Concerns Over Ethereum Merge Drive Digital Asset Outflows

In Brief

• Digital asset investment products saw outflows of $63 million.
• Although net outflows were larger, trading volumes remain relatively low.
• Outflows were concentrated around Ethereum-based products ahead of this week's Merge.

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Digital asset investment products experienced outflows for the fourth time in five weeks, this past week amounting to $63 million.

However, as short Bitcoin investment products nearly monopolized last week’s inflows, the latest CoinShares report considers this negative sentiment to have persisted for five weeks.

Yet as the outflows continue, low trading volumes, at 46% of this year’s average, have resulted in only $99 million in outflows over the past five weeks.

And the report highlighted how last Friday saw a bump in prices, despite becoming the largest day of outflows for the week.

The Americas continued to be the focal point of outflows, with Canada dominating for the second week in a row at $60 million in outflows, while the United States accounted for $10 million.

On the flip side, Germany and Switzerland both experienced inflows, of $5 million and $4.7 million respectively, which were tempered in Europe by Sweden’s outflows of $3.2 million.

Coinflows
Bitcoin-based products have also been experiencing a negative streak of flows, this past week being the fifth straight, which amounted to $13 million, as short Bitcoin investment products continued the negative sentiment with inflows of $11 million. Meanwhile, among altcoins, Cardano and Solana had inflows of $400,000 and $300,000 respectively.
Merge nerves
Crypto investment products based on Ethereum were the primary focus of outflows last week, as the third consecutive week amounted to $62 million, bringing year-to-date outflows to $362 million.

The report highlighted that while the Merge has become more certain, given its expected implementation this week, investors have likely withdrawn out of concern over the many risks of the unprecedented upgrade.

In anticipation of the upcoming Merge, Ethereum derivatives trading grew 10% over the past month. In addition to being more sustainable, Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin said that the blockchain’s transition to a proof-of-stake system would also be more secure in the long run, although experts are unsure what it will do to the price of Ethereum in the immediate aftermath.

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Nicholas Pongratz is a data scientist who teaches economics and communication in Budapest, Hungary, where he received a BA in Political Science and Economics and an MSc in Business Analytics from CEU. He has been writing about cryptocurrency and blockchain technology since 2018, and is intrigued by its potential economic and political usage.