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Total investor inflows into cryptocurrency funds and products hit US$5.6 billion so far this year, up more than 600per cent from 2019, according to the latest data from asset manager CoinShares.
FILE PHOTO: Representations of virtual currency Bitcoin are seen in this picture illustration taken taken March 13, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic//File Photo
NEW YORK: Total investor inflows into cryptocurrency funds and products hit US$5.6 billion so far this year, up more than 600per cent from 2019, according to the latest data from asset manager CoinShares.
The inflows plus the latest price moves lifted assets under management for the sector to nearly US$19 billion in 2020. Assets under management ended 2019 at just US$2.57 billion.
Interest in cryptocurrencies skyrocketed this year as investors saw bitcoin as a hedge against inflation and as an alternative to the depreciating dollar.
Bitcoin hit yet another all-time peak of US$24,298.04 on Sunday, but was last down nearly 3per cent at US$22,832.78, hit by a wave of risk-off moves in financial markets on worries about the new coronavirus strain.
On Monday ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency, fell 4.4per cent to US$610.14.
Inflows into investment crypto investment products totaled US$335 million as of Friday, with bitcoin flows accounting for US$792.1 million, the data showed. Ethereum had US$207.3 million in weekly flows.
So far this year, investors pumped US$15.6 billion into bitcoin products and funds, while ethereum inflows reached nearly US$2.5 billion.
“It’s no secret that there are a few big players in the bitcoin/crypto space and that it is mostly crowded with retail-related traders and investors,” said Julius de Kempenaer, senior technical analyst at StockCharts, a technical analysis and financial charting platform for online retail investors.
“The current jump will certainly attract new retail money, but we are also already seeing adoption by more institutions. I think the question is whether institutions can afford not to participate, and for how long,” he added.
Grayscale, the world’s largest crypto fund, had US$250.8 million inflows in the latest week, raising its assets under management to US$15.3 billion. So far this year, Grayscale has amassed inflows of nearly US$5 billion, the CoinShares report said.
Trading volume for bitcoin hit a record US$11 billion on trusted exchanges on Dec. 17, but slowed over the weekend. Turnover, however, remained at above the average of US$4 billion on Saturday and Sunday.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Richard Chang)