Institutional Investors Flock to Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum, Chainlink, and XRP: $5.7 Billion Invested in 2024

• Crypto investment products have witnessed growing interest, with almost $600 million in net inflows last week.
• ETH, LINK, and XRP are leading altcoins as the community anticipates the approval of an ether spot ETF in the coming weeks.

Crypto investment products have continued to enjoy remarkable inflows since the turn of the year. For the fourth consecutive week, crypto-focused investment products witnessed net inflows. Expectedly, Bitcoin (BTC) is leading this new trend with $570 million in inflows.

Following this addition, the total year-to-date flows have reached $5.6 billion. This makes Bitcoin by far the best-performing cryptocurrency. This is unsurprising after the approval of a Bitcoin spot ETF in January. This approval has attracted massive institutional interest in the digital asset.

Altcoins have also impressed in recent weeks, with some of the most obvious suspects leading. In the last week, Ethereum (ETH), Chainlink (LINK), and XRP have witnessed inflows of $17 million, $1.8 million, and $1.1 million, respectively. One notable trend is Solana, which emerged as a favorite for institutional investors in 2023. In the past week, the Ethereum rival has recorded a net outflow of $3 million. According to the head of research, James Butterfill, this could be attributed to the recent network outage. This could have deterred investors from buying the token.

This surge points to growing interest from institutional players in the crypto market, with the U.S. leading the charge. On the other hand, investors pull back from blockchain equities: $81 million outflow signals potential market hesitation.

Ethereum ETF Could Trigger Altseason

Institutional investors are seemingly drawing optimism from the probability of the launch of more crypto ETFs. Ethereum is leading, with major financial institutions such as BlackRock filing for an ether spot ETF.

According to JPMorgan’s analysts, an ether spot ETF will arrive in May 2024. This has received massive support from the key players involved. As CNF reported, Coinbase is actively pushing for SEC approval to list the Grayscale Ethereum Trust for trading, emphasizing Ethereum’s status as a commodity rather than a security.

XRP has also garnered a lot of attention, with many in the crypto community calling for an XRP ETF. XRP is the only cryptocurrency that enjoys legal status, making it an ideal investment option for institutional investors. Ripple is reported to be preparing for the launch of the XRP ETF in either 2024 or 2025, which could be followed by an IPO.

Chainlink (LINK) and Solana (SOL) are also key contenders, with Chainlink already working with financial institutions for the tokenization of real-world assets. Solana, on the other hand, is already a favorite with institutional investors.

The launch of the ether spot ETF could easily usher in the next altseason, with some experts anticipating ETH outperforming BTC.