Bitcoin ETFs Notch Biggest Week Ever, Adding $3.1 Billion as BTC Neared $100K

Investor hunger for Bitcoin The past week has apparently been insatiable, with speculators throwing more money than ever before into cryptocurrency investment vehicles.

Bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) were the most popular products, according to a report Monday by digital asset manager CoinShares, and investors pumped the most amount of money into the vehicles in a seven-day period.

A total of $3.12 billion flowed into the funds from Monday to Friday last week, CoinShares said. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved the ETFs in January; they allow US investors to easily purchase stocks that track the price of Bitcoin through brokerage accounts.

CoinShares tracks funds that give investors exposure to digital assets, from Germany and Switzerland to Hong Kong and Australia. The funds allow people to simply buy shares instead of holding digital coins and tokens themselves. The report added that interest in digital assets as an asset class has exploded this year.

“Year-to-date inflows now reach a record $37 billion, driven primarily by Bitcoin,” the report said, “far outpacing the debut of US gold ETFs, which raised just $309 million in their first year .”

Bitcoin, the largest and oldest digital asset, is usually the main focus for speculators. Last week, the price hit a new all-time high of $99,645 on Friday, but stopped short of the $100,000 mark before taking a dip. It now trades for $95,440, according to to CoinGecko.

But investors were also interested in altcoins such as Solanaand threw money at European funds that exposed the currency: $16 million hit such vehicles, compared to $2.8 million for Ethereum products.

The election of former President Donald Trump victory on November 5 has led to a wave of crypto investment, as the soon-to-be-returned commander-in-chief promised during his campaign to help grow the digital asset industry.

Edited by Andrew Hayward