Bitcoin’s Six-Week Hot Streak Ends as Institutions Turn to Ethereum

Bitcoin outflows hit $53.1 million last week—meaning that, for the first time in six weeks, more funds flowed out of digital asset investment products than in.

Profit-taking is largely to blame, especially considering there were few macroeconomic triggers that could influence BTC’s price, says a new report from digital asset investment firm CoinShares.

And that would suggest that meaningfully staying above the psychologically significant threshold of $30,000 could be a tough nut to crack for bulls. As of Monday morning, Bitcoin was sliding towards $27,000 and down 9% from the last week, according to CoinGecko.

Overall, digital asset investment products saw total outflows of $30 million in the seven days through April 21—with CoinShares XBT, ProShares, and 3iQ the hardest-hit providers. The providers all manage exchange-traded products pegged to cryptocurrencies, an indirect way for institutional investors to get exposure to crypto markets without actually holding it.

But the devil’s in the details. According to CoinShares head of research James Butterfill, there’s one cryptocurrency that’s bucking the trend in a big way.

Basking in the glow of the successful “Shapella” upgrade, Ethereum actually enjoyed inflows of $17 million last week—putting it far ahead of major altcoins, like Solana, Cardano, XRP, and Litecoin, which were mostly flat.

This indicates investors are feeling confident now that validators on Ethereum’s proof-of-stake network can withdraw staked ETH if they so wish.

Butterfill also revealed that inflows into ETH-based funds came solely from Europe, which is fresh from approving much-welcomed, landmark legislation on cryptocurrencies.

All of this comes as regulatory uncertainty in the U.S. casts a long shadow over American crypto firms—with the SEC’s crackdown potentially prompting investors to sit on the sidelines.

There was also a clear continental divide when it came to Bitcoin.

“Regionally, the profit-taking was almost solely from North America, which saw outflows totaling $54 million,” Butterfill wrote. “This was offset by the continued optimistic sentiment in Germany which saw inflows totalling $29 million.”

That optimism in Germany has undoubtedly been driven by the country’s friendly tax regime, which states that cryptocurrency offloaded after 12 months isn’t subject to capital gains.