Ether Investment Products See Largest Weekly Inflows Since March

Benjamin Taubman, Bloomberg News

The Bitcoin logo in Hong Kong, China, on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023. Bitcoin shrugged off a dip in global stock markets to set another more than 19-month high, a sign of its decoupling from other assets. Photographer: Paul Yeung/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- A surprise decision from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to allow Ether exchange-traded funds likely led to the largest weekly inflows in months into investment products holding the second-largest cryptocurrency, according to CoinShares International Ltd.

Investment products worldwide holding Ether saw $69 million in investor inflows in the week ended Friday, according to a report from the digital asset manager and crypto research firm. That’s the highest since March. The SEC unexpectedly ruled on May 23 to advance the approval process for a US Ethereum ETF.

Bitcoin products saw inflows of almost $2 billion last week, bringing the total for the year to $16.7 billion. The price of the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency has jumped by around 65% year-to-date, bolstered by the January approval of US Bitcoin ETFs. Bitcoin products have driven the majority of total crypto fund flows this year.

BlackRock Inc.’s iShares Bitcoin Trust surpassed Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust late last month to become the world’s largest fund for the original cryptocurrency. The fund holds over $21 billion in assets.

--With assistance from Muyao Shen.