Crypto investment funds intake $130M, while filings reveal new spot BTC ETF purchasers

Inflows to crypto investment funds top $130 million, and 13F filings reveal new institutional investors’ spot BTC ETF positions.

Cryptocurrency investment products saw inflows totaling $130 million in the week ending May 6, reversing a five-week streak of outflows, according to CoinShares. 

According to CoinShares’ “Digital Asset Fund Flows Weekly” report published on May 13, institutional investors increased their exposure to digital assets, with crypto investment products seeing total inflows of $130 million this past week.

Once again, the lion’s share of movement was attributed to Bitcoin (BTC) investment funds, which received $144 million in inflows.

Weekly trading volumes in investment products decreased from a weekly average of $17 billion in April to $8 billion in the week ending May 10, according to the report.

CoinShares head of research James Butterfill said,

“These volumes highlight ETP investors are participating less in the crypto ecosystem at present, representing 22% of total volumes on global trusted exchanges relative to 31% last month.”

The data follows heavy selling and uncertainties surrounding U.S. inflation data ahead of this week’s CPI data reading. Institutions poured nearly $116.8 million into spot Bitcoin ETFs between May 6 and May 10 as the exodus from Grayscale’s GBTC tapered off.

Data from Farside Investors reveals that institutional capital continued to flow into the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, posting the largest-ever inflow since May 6.

Fidelity, Bitwise and VanEck’s spot Bitcoin ETF funds are the only products that contributed to May 13 inflows. Fidelity’s Bitcoin fund was the biggest gainer on the day, with $20.3 million in inflows.

The report also revealed that the United States, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Australia and Brazil showed inflows regionally, as shown in the table below. The largest regional outflows came from Canada, with $20 million.

Increased inflows to crypto investment funds were also accompanied by news of the State of Wisconsin Investment Board revealing its exposure to spot Bitcoin investment.

In a 3F filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on May 14, the Board revealed that it purchased 94,562 shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) in the first quarter of the year.

Read More: State of Wisconsin reports $164M investments in spot Bitcoin ETFs

The investment board, also known as SWIB, also revealed that it purchased roughly $64 million worth of Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) shares.

Asset manager MacroScope noted that the Board’s filing was one of the most important disclosures for Bitcoin so far that will be closely analyzed by other investment boards, which may also follow suit.

Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst, Eric Balchunas, said that the Board’s interest in spot Bitcoin ETFs seems to have come sooner than expected.

“Wow, a state pension bought $IBIT in the first quarter. Normally, you don’t get these big fish institutions in the 13Fs for a year or so (when the ETF gets more liquidity), but as we’ve seen, these are no ordinary launches.”

Balchunas believes this is a good sign for the market, adding, “Expect more, as institutions tend to move in herds.”

The disclosure signifies a significant move by SWIB into the digital asset market by the Wisconsin Investment Committee. Spot Bitcoin ETFs offer investors exposure to Bitcoin without needing to own the cryptocurrency directly. This move by the Wisconsin Investment Committee could potentially signal a growing adoption of crypto investment products among traditional finance firms.