Digital assets proved surprisingly resilient last week, with investors pouring fresh capital into exchange-traded products even as prices swung wildly amid renewed U.S.–China trade jitters. CoinShares’ latest weekly bulletin, “Volume 255,” shows investment products attracted US$3.17 billion in inflows over the seven-day period, lifting year-to-date inflows to a new record of US$48.7 billion for 2025.
The headline numbers mask a frenetic week: trading volumes smashed previous records, weekly ETP volumes surged to roughly US$53 billion, about double this year’s weekly average, and Friday alone produced the heaviest single-day trading on record at US$15.3 billion. Still, the tug of geopolitics was visible in assets under management, which slipped 7 percent from the prior week to US$242 billion following tariff headlines.
Bitcoin Dominated Flows
The flagship cryptocurrency attracted roughly US$2.67 billion in fresh capital across products, pushing its YTD inflows to about US$30.2 billion, although that still trails 2024’s megaflow year when BTC products took in US$41.7 billion. The week’s price action was dramatic: a sharp sell-off tied to threats of fresh U.S. tariffs on China dropped prices late in the week.
CoinShares notes the intraday volatility produced one of the largest single-day trade volumes on record, roughly US$10.4 billion, even as net flows on the correction day were minimal. Markets then began to recover as policy rhetoric softened, with Bitcoin trading back above $115,000 on Monday. Ethereum saw a more mixed picture.
Products recorded US$338 million of inflows for the week, but investors also pulled US$172 million out of ETH products on Friday, the largest single-asset outflow that day, a sign that some allocators viewed Ether as particularly exposed during the correction.
Price action reflected that nervousness: Ethereum plunged from higher levels into the correction before rebounding; by Monday, it had reclaimed the roughly US$4,100 area after an intense bout of volatility. Smaller but closely watched tokens tied to pending U.S. ETFs lost steam in the week of the tariff scare.
Solana and XRP, both front-of-mind for investors betting on new institutional products, saw inflows slow to US$93.3 million and US$61.6 million, respectively. Solana’s price correction was pronounced: one market note captured a roughly 15 percent single-day drop as the broader market shed more than US$250 billion in value.
It is a move that traders and analysts called a liquidity flush ahead of potential ETF approvals. XRP, meanwhile, remains under intense ETF speculation, with filings and chatter accelerating as market participants price in the chance of substantial institutional demand if approval arrives.
Context Matters
The sell-off last Friday was triggered by a spike in global risk aversion after an administration tweet threatened steep tariffs on Chinese imports, and markets initially sold off sharply in response. By Sunday night and into Monday, however, softer language and talk of de-escalation helped stocks, commodities and crypto regain ground, showing how sensitive risk assets remain to headline risk.
Gold and silver also rallied on the escalation, reflecting a classic risk-off rotation. What the flows say about investor intent is as interesting as the price moves. The sheer scale of record ETP volumes suggests heavy participation from institutional desks and algorithmic liquidity providers; inflows continued despite the correction, indicating that many investors used the dislocation to add exposure rather than flee it.
At the same time, the concentration of flows into Bitcoin shows that, for many allocators, BTC is still seen as the primary gateway exposure to the asset class. Looking ahead, the market’s trajectory will likely be shaped by two crosswinds: geopolitics and product availability.
Tariff headlines and other macro shocks can quickly flip sentiment, but the looming potential for new U.S. ETFs, particularly for XRP and SOL, remains a powerful structural story. Analysts who track filings and institutional custody flows argue that approvals, if they arrive, could trigger a fresh wave of demand that would absorb available spot supply and potentially tighten markets; opponents warn that any regulatory or macro shocks could delay or dampen that effect.
