Investment products on digital assets recorded inflows of USD 1 billion last week, ending a five-week period of outflows that totaled USD 4 billion. From a macroeconomic perspective, it is difficult to attribute the change in sentiment to a single trigger. However, the previously weak price performance, the break of important technical support levels and renewed accumulation by large $BTC (-2.01%)-holders are likely to have contributed to the trend reversal. Anecdotally, it can also be observed that recent client discussions are almost exclusively about attractive entry levels and no longer about reducing the allocation to this asset class.

Bitcoin was the main beneficiary, attracting USD 881 million. At the same time, inflows into short Bitcoin products amounting to USD 3.7 million illustrate that opinions continue to diverge. Ethereum also saw inflows totaling USD 117 million - the highest since mid-January. Both $ETH (-3.07%) and #bitcoin are still net negative since the beginning of the year.

$SOL (-2.58%) In contrast, inflows of USD 53.8 million were recorded last week and total USD 156 million since the start of the year. At $LINK (-2.85%) (Chainlink) saw inflows of a moderate USD 3.4 million, while there were no significant outflows.

You can invest in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and Chainlink via the following vehicles:

$BITC (-1.81%)
$CETH (-2.54%)
$SLNC (-2.19%)
$CCHA (-2.39%)

Digital assets remain in consolidation. $BTC (-2.01%) has been fluctuating between USD 67,000 and 70,000 for weeks, while major market participants continue to sell: an estimated USD 30 billion has flowed out of so-called whales since October 2025. At 64%, their share of exchange deposits is at its highest level since 2015 - a clear supply overhang.

Macroeconomic headwinds also remain: a more restrictive tone from the US Federal Reserve and dampened expectations of interest rate cuts are putting pressure on risk appetite. Spot Bitcoin and $ETH (-3.07%)-ETFs recorded outflows of USD 4.3 billion for five weeks in a row.

And yet: the first signs of a bottom are becoming visible. Bitcoin's relative strength index fell to 16 - historically an extreme value in oversold territory. Leverage ratios have fallen significantly, valuation ratios are normalizing and inflows of around USD 1 billion have returned for the first time this week.

The environment remains fragile in the short term. But structurally, the conditions for the next phase of expansion could slowly emerge. (Text by James Butterfill, CoinShares' Head of Research)

$BITC (-1.81%)
$CETH (-2.54%)

Investment products for digital assets recorded outflows of 288 million US dollars last week. This was the fifth consecutive week of net outflows, bringing the total to USD 4.0 billion - still below the USD 6 billion reached in the same period last year. After several weeks of record activity, trading volumes in ETPs slumped significantly to USD 17 billion, the lowest level since July 2025, indicating waning investor interest.

The regional picture is divergent: In the US, outflows totaled USD 347 million, while other regions saw inflows totaling USD 59 million. This was led by Switzerland with USD 19.5 million, Canada with USD 16.8 million and Germany with USD 16.2 million.

$BTC (-2.01%) The US dollar dominated the negative sentiment with outflows of USD 215 million, while short bitcoin products saw inflows of USD 5.5 million - the highest figure among all asset classes. $ETH (-3.07%) The short bitcoin fund recorded outflows of USD 36.5 million, followed by multi-asset products with USD 32.5 million and $TRX (+0.19%) (Tron) with 18.9 million US dollars. Low inflows were recorded for XRP (USD 3.5 million), $SOL (-2.58%) (3.3 million US dollars) and $LINK (-2.85%) (Chainlink) (USD 1.2 million), but not enough to offset the net outflows from altcoins.

$BITC (-1.81%)
$CETH (-2.54%)
$XRRL (-2.13%)
$SLNC (-2.19%)

A few days ago, Bloomberg analyst Mike McGlone pointed out that Tether's stablecoin $USDT (+0.74%) is not far behind Ethereum in terms of market capitalization. The gap is still around 50 billion US dollars - but it is shrinking. Should there be a further decline on the crypto market, Ether could lose its second place in the ranking.

However, this would not be the "death of Ethereum", but an expression of a structural shift. $ETH (-3.07%) Ethereum is stable, has the largest developer base in the ecosystem and remains the center of the smart contract economy.

The real story is stablecoins. They have long been the most widely used instrument in the crypto market and have $V (-0.56%) (Visa) and $MA (-0.69%) (Mastercard) in terms of transaction volume. According to Accenture, they could process payments worth over USD 13 trillion by 2030 - with potentially billions in fees lost to the traditional banking system.

The question is therefore not so much whether USDT will "flip" Ethereum, but rather: Are we witnessing the quiet dominance of the digital dollar infrastructure? (Author: Jérémy Le Bescont, Editor-in-Chief of CoinShares)

$CETH (-2.54%)

At its core, a smart contract is nothing more than a piece of code that exists on a blockchain and is automatically executed as soon as predefined conditions are met - without intermediaries, without delays and without discretion. They form the building blocks of decentralized applications and enable everything from lending and borrowing to trading and beyond - in a permissionless and transparent way.

And they are growing. In the fourth quarter of 2025 $ETH (-3.07%) set a record with 8.7 million newly implemented smart contracts - the highest quarterly figure in the history of the network. Today, around 43 percent of the total ETH supply is in smart contracts, a share that has risen steadily over the years. Staking accounts for a significant proportion of this, but DeFi activities are also a major contributor. DeFi (Decentralized Finance) refers to an ecosystem of blockchain-based financial applications that enables traditional financial services such as loans, trading or interest rate products without banks or central intermediaries. Ethereum currently holds 58 percent of the total capital locked in $DEFI (-8.48%) locked capital (total value locked), which corresponds to around 55 billion US dollars.

Despite this growth, the use of smart contracts is still at a comparatively early stage. Much of what these platforms are intended to enable - from large-volume financial settlements to tokenized real-world assets - is still under construction. If the infrastructure continues to mature, future growth momentum could be significantly steeper than it has been to date.

$CSSC (-3.24%)
$CETH (-2.54%)

$BTC (-2.01%) is the only area with negative investor sentiment and recorded capital outflows of USD 264 million. In contrast $XRP (-2.12%), $SOL (-2.58%) and $ETH (-3.07%) lead inflows, with USD 63.1 million, USD 8.2 million and USD 5.3 million respectively. XRP thus remains the most successful asset since the beginning of the year, with cumulative capital inflows of USD 109 million.

$BITC (-1.81%)
$XRRL (-2.13%)
$SLNC (-2.19%)
$CETH (-2.54%)

$BTC (-2.01%)
#bitcoin is an indispensable store of value for any crypto portfolio, but at the same time offers a growth component that other typical stores of value do not. In my view, a crypto portfolio should therefore be built around Bitcoin. Institutional adoption via ETFs and allocations to corporate treasuries is an important narrative, but in reality we are still very early in some segments of the market. While there is some saturation in digital asset tokens, there is significant potential for additional inflows as more allocators develop a better understanding of the asset class - such as more conservative investment committees or even governments.

$ETH (-3.07%)

#ethereum remains the leading smart contract platform in terms of total value locked (TVL) and developer activity. The Layer 2 ecosystem, including Arbitrum, Optimism and Base, continues to scale the network and bring in new users. Most importantly, Ethereum is well positioned to benefit from the growth of stablecoins and tokenization infrastructures. Regulatory advances through legislation such as the GENIUS Act could significantly accelerate this trend. Scott Bessent expects stablecoins to be worth three trillion by 2030, and we believe Ethereum is well positioned to absorb a significant share of this.

$SOL (-2.58%)

#solana Ethereum follows a similar value proposition to Ethereum, but offers high throughput rates and low fees. Owning both assets therefore allows for broad coverage of the smart contract segment. Tokenized equities are likely to become more established on Solana and with spot ETFs now available, significant capital inflows could follow in 2026. ETH and SOL are generally well covered in the smart contract platform market, and with prices largely depressed, they offer attractive entry points without the speculative overheating of past highs.

Which crypto assets are you betting on this year?

$BITC (-1.81%)
$CETH (-2.54%)
$SLNC (-2.19%)

Today, gold can no longer only be acquired physically or via traditional financial products, but can also be tokenized on the blockchain - usually on Ethereum. In this model, a provider stores the physical #gold in a vault and issues ERC-20 tokens, which represent a fixed weight such as one ounce or one gram. These tokens can be traded globally, purchased in small denominations, transferred around the clock and used in various financial services within the Ethereum ecosystem.

The best-known examples are PAX Gold (PAXG) and Tether Gold (XAUT), both of which are issued on Ethereum. They make access to gold much more flexible, enable faster transfers and allow trading in smaller units than on traditional markets. Tokenized precious metals outside of gold have so far achieved hardly any significant traction.

$CETH (-2.54%)

Digital investment products recorded inflows of USD 2.17 billion last week - the highest weekly figure since October 10, 2025, just before the market collapse. Inflows were stronger at the start of the week, but sentiment turned negative on Friday: diplomatic tensions over Greenland and renewed threats of additional tariffs led to outflows of USD 378 million. In addition, speculation that Kevin Hassett - a leading candidate for the chairmanship of the US Federal Reserve and well-known monetary policy dove - is likely to remain in his current post weighed on the market.

#bitcoin led the inflows with 1.55 billion US dollars. Despite a push by the US Senate Banking Committee under the CLARITY Act, which could restrict stablecoins from paying interest, Ethereum and #solana saw inflows of USD 496 million and USD 45.5 million respectively.

A wide range of altcoins saw inflows, most notably #xrp (USD 69.5 million), Sui (USD 5.7 million), LIDO (USD 3.7 million) and Hedera (USD 2.6 million).

$BITC (-1.81%)
$CETH (-2.54%)
$SLNC (-2.19%)
$XRRL (-2.13%)
$GB00BMY36D37 (-1.2%)

Regulatory developments in Washington took center stage this week as the US Senate Banking Committee continued its work on the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act - a crucial piece of legislation for the further development of the stablecoin industry. Originally conceived as a market structure bill, the bill has expanded into a broader crypto regulatory framework that includes #stablecoins, #deficonsumer protection and illegal financial activities. In all draft versions, regulation consistently revolves around control and custody, with obligations linked to who actually exercises decision-making power - rather than whether an activity is designated as centralized or decentralized. This approach forms the basis for dealing with DeFi and stablecoins, where legislators seek to differentiate non-custodial software and payment infrastructure from intermediaries and yield-based financial products. A markup session of the Senate Banking Committee scheduled for January fifteenth has been postponed. With a view to the finalization phase of the Clarity Act, a possible dynamic in #ethereum,
#solana, #xrp and other altcoins.

Crypto assets have historically faced higher regulatory risks outside of #bitcoin historically faced higher regulatory risks, and the CLARITY Act would mitigate these risks by clearly defining which authorities regulate what and what obligations apply to tokens and trading venues. Such codified and permanent regulation can unlock institutional interest through greater legal resilience and more certainty in due diligence. The end result should be more product and service offerings, lower liquidity and an overall reduction in risk perception. We expect this to support the market development of altcoins. (Author: James Butterfill, CoinShares Head of Research)

$GB00BMY36D37 (-1.2%)
$SLNC (-2.19%)
$XRRL (-2.13%)
$CETH (-2.54%)