CoinShares has published impressive data on cryptocurrency funds' growth. Thus, this figure has reached $4.2 billion in 2.5 months. Moreover, inflows are ongoing.
The boom began with Elon Musk's announcement of Tesla's acquisition of $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin. It instantly pushed the price of the cryptocurrency up. Now the digital asset is being supported by investors' mistrust of the Fed's monetary policy and the anticipation of the market's reaction to inflation with respect to the measures to prevent the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.
Digital currencies hit their previous high of $3.9 billion in the previous quarter, bringing total inflows of 2020 to $6.7 billion.
The growing popularity of cryptocurrencies results from the active development of the ATM network in the United States.
Of course, bitcoin is taking the lead. Last year, its inflows amounted to $3.3 billion. Ethereum was ranked second with $731 billion.
On Saturday, bitcoin hit last year's highs, reaching $61,781.83. However, it has lost since then as investors consolidated gains amid India's plans to ban cryptocurrencies. On Tuesday, the cryptocurrency was valued at $55,415. Now it is trading between $54,658 and $56,844.
In total, the benchmark currency gained about 90% over the past year.
"As bitcoin moves into the mainstream and captures greater attention, it will likely draw further scrutiny from regulators in the United States and Asia. The potential for more scrutiny and tighter regulation remains the biggest headwind for bitcoin," Jesse Cohen, senior analyst at Investing.com, said.
Data from CoinShares showed that crypto assets under management surged to $55.8 billion. Last year, AUM for the sector reached $37.6 billion. Digital asset investment providers now oversee assets of more than $5 billion. The largest manager of digital currencies, Grayscale, controls about $43.73 billion, and CoinShares, the second largest crypto fund manager, oversees nearly $5 billion.
At the same time, CoinShares analysis data showed that investors still prefer to choose investment providers mainly engaged in passive tracking of digital assets, instead of active depositors. Thus, passive funds have AUM of $54.1 billion, compared with $786 million for those with active strategies. This suggests that many perceive bitcoin and its counterparts as a means for long-term investments during crises in the bond and stock markets.
Against this background, the Paris-based European Securities and Markets Authority is warning investors of serious risks related to the steep rally of digital currencies. This market is traditionally the most volatile and vulnerable to sharp fluctuations.
This authority's biennial report confirms that the crypto market bears high risks and it is highly volatile. The European Securities and Markets notes that consumers must understand the high risks of buying and owning such instruments, including the risk of losing all of their invested capital.
Notably, the European Union does not regulate the cryptocurrency market. It is just considering a number of bills to oversee these markets.
Most crypto assets are unregulated in the European Union and new legislation is just under revision by lawmakers.
The market regulation in all countries is yet to come, which is likely to hit the volatile market, forcing investors to lose large sums of money.
What do experienced traders invest in? Read here.
