Crypto Gold Rush: Asset Managers Rake in Billions as Digital Assets Dominate 2025

Wall Street's old guard just found religion—and it's built on blockchain.

Hedge funds and institutional players are diving headfirst into crypto, pulling in nine-figure inflows weekly. The 2025 numbers don't lie: what was once 'niche' is now driving the decade's most aggressive portfolio growth.

Who needs 2% bonds when DeFi yields beat inflation by 10x? (Okay, maybe risk departments—but they're being overruled.)

The kicker? This isn't retail FOMO. These are pension funds and endowments chasing returns in a zero-yield world. Turns out even suits like getting rich fast.

Just don't ask about their 2022 'crypto is dead' memos.

Ten Weeks of Consistent Inflows in Crypto-Based Investment Products

James Butterfill emphasized that despite increasing geopolitical uncertainties, investors remain confident in crypto-based investment products. The regional distribution of net inflows was dominated by the US. Last week alone, US-based investment products attracted $1.25 billion in net inflows.

Canada and Germany followed the US with net inflows of $20.9 million and $10.9 million, respectively. Part of these positive flows was offset by net outflows of $32.6 million from products in Hong Kong and $7.7 million from Switzerland. In the US, spot Bitcoin$101,542 Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) made up a significant portion of the total fund inflows, drawing in $1.02 billion by themselves.

Investor Interest in Bitcoin and Ethereum Continues

Despite the price decline, Bitcoin-based investment products saw the second consecutive week of net inflows, with an additional $1.1 billion invested. Butterfill interpreted this as investors buying at lower prices. The presence of a relatively small outflow of $1.4 million from Short Bitcoin products supports this view.

Ethereum$2,249-based investment products recorded their ninth consecutive week of net inflows, adding another $124 million. This streak brought the total inflow to $2.2 billion. Butterfill highlighted that this is the longest streak of inflows since mid-2021, reflecting strong investor interest in the asset. However, US-based spot Ethereum ETFs accounted for only $40.3 million of this inflow, with most contributions coming from Ethereum-based products in other regions.

In terms of price performance, bitcoin decreased by 4.7% over the last week, trading at $101,660, while Ethereum dropped by 13.7%, trading at $2,255. BRN Chief Analyst Valentin Fournier noted that the adoption of Bitcoin as a strategic reserve by companies like Metaplanet and in Texas prepares the ground for recovery once uncertainties diminish. Fournier maintained a positive outlook on Bitcoin’s resilience, suggesting Solana$134 might perform better in recovery, and Ethereum has recovery potential despite short-term institutional support loss as volatility decreases.

Meanwhile, investment products based on Solana, XRP, Chainlink$12, Cardano$0.542867, and Litecoin saw inflows of $2.8 million, $2.7 million, $600,000, $300,000, and $200,000, respectively. However, Altcoin Sui-based investment products faced an outflow of $500,000.