Throughout August, the assets under management (AUM) of Ethereum investment products increased by 2.36% to $6.81 billion, outperforming Bitcoin products, whose AUM fell by 7.16% to $17.4 billion.
The data comes from a new report by CryptoCompare.
This is also reflected in the trading volume of Bitcoin and Ethereum products. Among them, the trading volume of Grayscale’s most famous Bitcoin product GBTC fell by 24.4%, while the trading volume of its Ethereum product GETH actually increased by 23.2%. CryptoCompare’s report points to the highly anticipated Ethereum merger as the reason behind the change in trading volume:
In fact, even at a more granular level, the Bitcoin products covered by this report saw no increase in AUM or transaction volume in August. In the short term, we may see a shift in investor interest in bitcoin as ethereum-based products grab attention amid the much-anticipated merger looming.
The monthly AUM data of digital asset investment products fell by 4% overall, mainly because the AUM of Grayscale’s GBTC products fell by 6%. GBTC accounted for 53.4% of the total digital asset assets under management of US$25.8 billion (US$13.4 billion).
The largest inflows came from products in the “other” category, representing non-bitcoin and ethereum products, which rose 12.3 percent to $1.13 billion in the first three weeks, the report said.
Monthly AUM figures for digital asset investment products have steadily declined throughout the bear market Source: Crypto Compare
Despite the bear market, some well-known financial institutions launched crypto investment products in August. These products come in the form of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), exchange-traded certificates (ETCs), exchange-traded notes (ETNs), and trust products.
The most notable of these is BlackRock's (BlackRock) Spot Bitcoin Private Trust , a move that prompted former Grayscale CEO Barry Silbert to respond by saying " Wall Street is coming ." The world's largest asset manager had partnered with Coinbase to provide institutional trading services to its clients before launching a spot bitcoin private trust.
Charles Schwab is another participating financial institution this month, launching its own Schwab Crypto Thematic ETF (STCE), listed on the New York Stock Exchange, which offers exposure to mining and staking companies as well as some district-based funds. Exposure to blockchain applications.
BetaShares has launched Australia’s first metaverse-focused ETF on the ASX, while financial firm SoFi has launched a new metaverse- and NFT-focused ETF.