Cryptocurrency investors have been increasingly purchasing Bitcoin (BTC)-related exchange-traded products (ETP) amid concerns over potentially looming interest rate cuts in September.
The crypto investment firm CoinShares reported on Aug. 26 that digital asset investment products saw weekly inflows worth $533 million from Aug. 18 to Aug. 24.
Last week’s purchasing pace of crypto-related ETFs marked the largest inflows in the past five weeks, fueled by anticipation of interest rate cuts in the United States. US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, on Aug. 21, suggested that the first interest rate cuts could occur in September 2024.
Bitcoin is the winner with $543 million of inflows
Among various crypto investment products analyzed by CoinShares, Bitcoin-related ETPs saw the largest inflows last week, totaling $543 million.
The most significant buying came from BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which recorded $318 million in inflows last week.
Meanwhile, Ether (ETH)-related crypto investment products saw negative flows, totaling $36 million in outflows over the period. Ethereum outflows came despite new ETH ETF issuers continuing to see inflows, but the Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) offset the buying with $118 million of outflows.
Weekly flows in crypto investment products from Aug. 18 to Aug. 24. Source: CoinShares
Despite massive outflows from the Grayscale Ethereum Trust, the new Ethereum ETFs have seen $3.1 billion of inflows since launching on July 23. The inflows were partially offset by outflows from Grayscale’s ETHE, which offloaded $2.5 billion over the period.
Bitcoin added 8% amid fresh inflows
Amid increasing inflows, the Bitcoin price saw notable growth, with BTC adding about 8% to its value from $59,500 on Aug. 18 to $64,300 on Aug. 24.
Still, the cryptocurrency is down around 6% over the past 30 days after reaching the price of $69,900 on July 29, according to data from CoinGecko.
Related: Past rate cuts indicate potential crypto bull market catalyst — 21Shares
While crypto inflows surged past $500 million for the first time in five weeks, they were far from beating historical records. The largest spike of inflows in 2024 was recorded between March 11 and March 17, 2024, soon after the BTC price reached its historical high of $73,600 on March 14.
Bitcoin (BTC) 3-month price chart. Source: CoinGecko
According to an analysis by the crypto financial services platform Matrixport, one of the main reasons for the latest Bitcoin surge is the active minting of new stablecoins like Tether (USDT).
“Robust stablecoin minting is the main force behind Bitcoin rise, suggesting institutional influence surpasses macroeconomic factors,” Matrixport said in its latest update on Aug. 26.
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