Today's Recommendation | BlackRock sets a record, Bitcoin ETF booms

In comparison, the demand for Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) makes the other recently launched ETFs seem insignificant. It may not be obvious enough, but the Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) is extremely hot - the product demand has exceeded everyone's expectations. Bloomberg data shows that among the top 30 products out of the 575 ETFs launched this year, 14 are new Bitcoin or Ethereum funds, with the top four being Bitcoin funds. The data shows that in the past four years, among the 1,800 ETFs that have started trading, the inflow to BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust Fund has been the largest so far. By 2024, 575 ETFs have been launched. Ranked by inflow, 14 out of the top 30 are spot BTC or ETH ETFs. Including 6 out of the top 10. The top 30 also include 2 ETFs related to MSTR. The traditional finance industry's interest in cryptocurrencies is real. ETFs are popular investment tools traded on stock exchanges. Investors can buy and sell stocks that track the S&P 500 index, gold, Bitcoin, and real estate companies. In January, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved Bitcoin products, allowing 10 such funds to start trading on U.S. stock exchanges, after the agency had rejected the product for nearly a decade. These investment tools have become very popular, attracting billions of dollars in inflows within a few months. Last week, their total assets surpassed the $20 billion mark - reaching the highest level in five years for gold ETFs in just 10 months, exceeding expectations. James Seyffart, an ETF research analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, believes that the rapid money-making is partly because investors have wanted to invest in Bitcoin for some time, but before the ETFs were approved, they didn't have a safe or easy way to invest. Now that the ETFs have started trading, this demand is quickly entering the market. "I think it's partly pent-up demand," he told Decrypt. "But as people learn more, it's also new demand." He added that traditional financial institutions are also interested in these products - including hedge funds participating in futures trading. "This helps improve liquidity and demand," he said, adding that hedge funds have been going long on ETFs and then selling futures contracts. Major institutions, including Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, are now investing in Bitcoin through new products. After getting approval, Bitcoin's price even hit a new all-time high in March. But so far, Ethereum hasn't been as lucky. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved the ETF for the second-largest cryptocurrency (it seems reluctantly) in May. Since trading began in July, its inflows have hardly increased. Part of the reason is that prior to July, Grayscale's Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) operated more like a closed-end fund than an ETF. Its subsequent conversion means that investors who had previously locked cash in the fund are now quickly redeeming shares, leading to a massive outflow of funds. Farside data shows that so far, $3 billion has flowed out of the fund, making the total flow of all 9 Ethereum ETFs currently trading negative $472.7 million. However, this doesn't mean demand won't rebound. Investors have already put cash into other products, which could mean a turnaround is coming. "It's just that the outflow from ETHE has overwhelmed the inflows into these other [Ethereum] ETFs," Seyffart added. "That's the situation right now."