Institutional Exit in Bitcoin: Altcoins Also Start to Move

Last week, there was significant volatility in digital asset investment products. Bitcoin (BTC) and many other cryptocurrencies experienced a total outflow of 2 billion dollars. According to CoinShares data, this outflow marks the largest weekly outflow recorded since February and the weekly loss of the digital asset market has reached its most severe level of the year.

One of the underlying reasons for this outflow is the uncertainties in monetary policy and sales by major investors. Notably, in the past three weeks, a total outflow of 3.2 billion dollars has occurred, while the total value of managed assets has declined from the 264 billion dollars level in October to 191 billion dollars, reflecting a decrease of 27%.

Regional analyses provide a clearer picture of this phenomenon. The U.S. accounted for 97% of the outflows, recording a negative cash flow of 1.97 billion dollars. In other regions, Switzerland saw an outflow of 39.9 million dollars and Hong Kong experienced an outflow of 12.3 million dollars, while Germany showed a positive divergence with an inflow of 13.2 million dollars.

Outflows from Bitcoin this week reached 1.38 billion dollars, representing 2% of managed assets. Ethereum (ETH) displayed a very negative picture, recording an outflow of 689 million dollars last week, corresponding to 4% of the asset's total management. Solana (SOL) and XRP concluded the week with more limited outflow figures of 8.3 million dollars and 15.5 million dollars, respectively.

Investors' search for safe havens increased the appeal of multi-asset ETPs, with total inflows of 69 million dollars into these products over the past three weeks. During the same period, significant demand for short Bitcoin ETPs, reflecting the market's downward expectations, was observed.