Bitcoin Funds Gain $57 Million in Fresh Cash Amid ETF Mania

Publicly traded crypto funds worldwide absorbed over $61 million in new capital on Monday—enough to account for more than 10% of all net deposits into crypto funds since the start of the year—and almost all if it was funneled into Bitcoin funds.

The influx of capital occurred as Bitcoin (BTC)’s price swelled to $35,000 on Monday as investors grow more eager for a spot Bitcoin ETF to reach the U.S. market. Nearly all those inflows—$57 million—went into BTC-based funds, with another $5.7 million going toward Solana (SOL).

“The flows have been primarily from Germany and Canada, and very little from the U.S. so far,” explained James Butterfill, Head of Research at CoinShares, in a message to Decrypt.

Germany and Canada are among a handful of developed countries to launch spot Bitcoin ETFs—funds for which shares are directly redeemable for a fixed slice of underlying BTC.

Germany’s ETC Group received $24.3 million of inflows to its crypto products, while Canada’s Purpose Investments—the world’s first Bitcoin ETF provider—received $10.9 million. Meanwhile, products from 21Shares AG absorbed another $11.8 million.

Though U.S. investors have access to BTC-based investment vehicles, none yet offer 1:1 exposure to spot BTC. Shares in funds like Grayscale (GBTC), for instance, do not directly track Bitcoin’s price, while the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) only offers Bitcoin futures exposure.

Butterfill said that he suspects U.S. investors are still waiting on approval for a physical Bitcoin ETF, due to lack of activity in the country’s existing products on Monday. “On a relative basis over the last month they have seen virtually no flows,” he said.

Both Grayscale and 21Shares are vying to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF alongside other major funds, and both are in hot contention to win the race.

On Monday, the Court of Appeals ordered the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to review Grayscale’s previously denied application. Meanwhile, the SEC is required to either approve or deny the Ark/21Shares Bitcoin ETF application by January 10, well before the final deadline for rival applicants.

Before yesterday, CoinShares reported that Bitcoin funds had absorbed just $55.3 million over the course of an entire week.