The cryptocurrency market is witnessing a mix of trends with Bitcoin and BNB registering gains while the broader altcoin market faces a downturn. Today, the overall crypto market cap saw a slight dip to $1.41 trillion, despite Bitcoin's 0.7% increase and BNB's significant 5.3% gain. This comes as investment in crypto funds continues to show positive momentum, with an inflow of $176 million last week, according to CoinShares. Bitcoin took the lion's share of these funds, with an investment of $155 million, marking the eighth consecutive week of inflows.
Investor confidence in Bitcoin appears strong, as data reveals that 70% of Bitcoin supply has not been traded over the past year, indicating a prevalent holding sentiment among investors. This holding behavior is taking place against the backdrop of growing optimism for a spot bitcoin ETF in the United States, with Bloomberg Intelligence predicting that major mutual funds could pour up to $100 billion into such a product.
Further bolstering the crypto market are the developments in financial institutions and geopolitical events. Santander (BME:SAN) Switzerland has recently started offering Bitcoin and Ethereum trading and custody services to selected clients, with plans to expand its digital asset offerings. Meanwhile, in Argentina, the election of Javier Milei as president has pushed Bitcoin to all-time highs against the Argentine peso.
Last week, the crypto market experienced a significant investment surge totaling $346.3 million, driven by the anticipation of a US spot-based ETF launch. Bitcoin led this surge with inflows of $312 million, while Ethereum also saw a healthy increase with $33.5 million, potentially mitigating its yearly losses with recent four-week gains of $103 million. The investment flows last week were not uniform across all altcoins, as Solana and Cardano saw additional funds, but Litecoin experienced withdrawals, and the Bitcoin Short fund had a marginal outflow of $0.9 million. XRP witnessed a slight uptick in funds by $0.2 million. Geographically, Canada was at the forefront of these inflows, with $199.1 million, followed by Germany at $101.5 million, and the USA at $30.2 million.
The crypto market continues to navigate through regulatory landscapes as well, with the U.S Department of Justice reportedly in talks for a settlement of over $4 billion with Binance. The settlement is in connection with allegations that include money laundering and bank fraud, highlighting the ongoing scrutiny that the industry faces from regulators.
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