Digital asset investment products saw modest inflows of $2.5M for the week ended March 31, CoinShares reported Monday, as trading volumes in such vehicles dropped by 33% from the prior week. For individual cryptocurrencies, sentiment was mixed. On the one hand, bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) experienced inflows of $8.8M, while ethereum ( ETH-USD ) suffered outflows of $2.8M. The outflows in ether ( ETH-USD ) "suggest investors remained concerned for the upcoming Shanghai upgrade," the digital asset investment and trading group wrote in a blog post. The slump investment products' trading volumes "was reflected in the broader bitcoin market where trading volumes on trusted exchanges fell by 61%, with both datapoints suggesting much less participation in the crypto market compared to the prior week." Flows may have been mixed, but the price of bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) and ether ( ETH-USD ) each posted drove up markedly during the week, as seen in this chart. In fact, bitcoin's price appreciation left BTC assets under management at $23.5B, the highest level since crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital collapsed last June, CoinShares noted. Kicking off this week, bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) and ether ( ETH-USD ) traded in a tight range, edging up 0.1% to $28.19K and 1.7% to $1.83K, respectively, at 2:41 p.m. ET. Seeking Alpha contributor Stony Chambers Asset Research laid out a Buy thesis for bitcoin ( BTC-USD ), explaining how "its features as a special database are enough" to justify its value.
