Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF Buys Fall 90% Amid Crypto Market Plunge

Cryptocurrency funds stayed green last week, though inflows fell dramatically as crypto products experienced a record day of outflows following a hawkish speech from the Federal Reserve boss.

Speculators pumped a total of $308 million into funds over the course of last week, including into Bitcoin ETFs. But on Thursday, investors pulled out a record $576 million, data from European fund manager CoinShares shows. By Friday, that number had risen to $1 billion. 

CoinShares said that the sudden shift with investors backtracking was “likely in response to the hawkish dot plot released” by the Federal Reserve. Such funds had added more than $3.2 billion worth of assets the previous week, which means inflows fell by more than 90% week-over-week.

America’s central bank last week cut interest rates—as expected—but the Fed’s chair, Jerome Powell, gave a speech saying that it would not cut as aggressively in 2025, spooking investors in the process. Assets like Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have historically performed better in a low interest rate environment. 

Following the Fed’s speech, Bitcoin and other major assets dropped sharply. Bitcoin is now trading for $93,245 per coin, after dipping nearly 13% over a seven-day period, CoinGecko shows. Last Tuesday, it touched a new all-time high of little over $108,o00, just before the plunge. 

CoinShares also said Monday that investors looking to get exposure to altcoins last week via exchange-traded products switched to Ethereum from Solana. Products giving exposure to Ethereum, the second-biggest digital coin, received $51 million in inflows, while Solana experienced $8.7 million in outflows.

Investment funds that track the price of cryptocurrencies have done particularly well following the U.S. presidential election of Donald Trump, as the President-elect ran on a campaign to help the digital asset industry.

Edited by Andrew Hayward