Ethereum investments continue a ‘turn-around in sentiment’

CoinShares’ weekly survey of cryptocurrency investments shows that net outflows hit $9 million last week, bringing total outflows in this 4-week run to $22 million. Regionally, the outflows were focused on the US, Germany & Sweden totaling $10 million, $2.4 million and $2.1 million respectively. Minor inflows were seen in Brazil and Switzerland at $2.5 million and $1.9 million respectively.

Bitcoin led the tally with $15 million outflows during the week, the third weekly outflow in a row, totaling $15 million on a year-to-date basis. With overall sentiment on cryptocurrencies turning cautious as the digital asset’s rally hit a wall, CoinShares writes that it is difficult to ascertain the precise reason for this other than the hawkish rhetoric from the Federal Reserve and the recent price decline.

The decline in August, noted the asset manager, also came as the summer doldrums persist for now.

That said, CoinShares notes that Ethereum bucked the negative trend with inflows totaling $3 million, the largest of all crypto assets the company tracks. From a relative perspective, however, the second largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalisation remains the focus of negative sentiment with YTD outflows representing $297 million of AuM.

“At the mid-point in June Ethereum investment products had seen year-to-date outflows totalling $459m. Since this point, as there has been improving clarity on the Merge, Ethereum has seen a 9-week run of inflows totalling $162m ” said CoinShares’ investment strategist James Butterfill.

Altcoins saw unremarkable inflows

Breaking down the latest statistics, Coinshares said minor outflows were seen in a few altcoins’ investment products. Most notably, Cardano registered weekly inflows of $0.5 million, while Solana saw outflows for a second week totaling $1.4 million.

Blockchain equities also succumbed to the negative sentiment with outflows coming in at $1.6 million last week.

CoinShares is Europe’s largest digital asset investment firm. The company’s ETPs aim to offer a low-cost product providing regulated access to crypto tokens, whilst benefiting from the institutional grade security and 100% physically backed features that match other ETC securities.

Revenue at CoinShares fell in the second quarter from the previous one, weighed down by a decline in institutional investors’ interest in cryptocurrency trading.

In terms of its net income, Coinshares reported a loss of £0.1 million in the quarter ending June 30 from a positive income of £26.6 million the previous years. That was Coinshare’s its first negative quarter since going public in March 2021.

The company attributes the net loss to its TerraUSD (UST) holdings. The London-based firm recorded an “exceptional” loss of £17 million (roughly $21.4 million) from its exposure to Terra’s token when it exited its UST position.