The U.S. spot Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF) posted record daily inflows on Friday, making it the second-largest cryptocurrency after significantly underperforming Bitcoin (BTC) this year. This is another sign that the currency is gaining momentum as a rebound trade.
Nine products recorded net inflows of $332.9 million during Friday's shortened trading session, according to data compiled by Farside Investors. BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) and Fidelity Ethereum Fund (FETH) led the charge, raising $250 million and $79 million in new capital, respectively.
Friday was the group's fifth consecutive net inflow session, ending its second-strongest week with $455 million in net inflows, according to SoSoValue data. This was a short week as traditional markets in the United States were closed on Thanksgiving Thursday.
The Ether ETF also outpaced inflows to the Spot Bitcoin ETF, which attracted $320 million in inflows on Friday, but suffered net outflows this week.
Ether has fallen out of favor with investors this year, lagging behind Bitcoin in price action and ETF flows, but Donald Trump's election victory has revived interest in altcoins and decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. It has recently made a comeback due to its increased popularity.
In addition to strong inflows into ETFs, open interest in ETF futures on the institutional Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) soared to a record high of nearly $3 billion, according to Coinglass, reflecting sentiment towards the asset. highlighted the improvement.
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Cryptocurrency trader Edward Mora noted the strong inflows into the ETF, calling ETH “the most obvious catch-up trade this cycle” in a Saturday post on X.
Bitcoin continued to consolidate below $100,000 this week, while ETH also showed relative strength against the largest cryptocurrency. ETH price hit a five-month high of over $3,700 on Saturday, outperforming BTC on both a weekly and monthly basis, but still shows it is lagging year-over-year, according to data from CoinDesk Indices. There is.
Joel Krueger, market strategist at LMAX Group, said in a note on Friday that the ETH-BTC ratio may be forming a major bottom after trending downward for about three years.
Krueger said: “The improving outlook for the DeFi space (warming regulatory environment due to the new U.S. administration) is driving a shift in sentiment as market participants can now see a clearer path towards investing in Ethereum. I think this is the main factor.”
