"Short-term investment funds are affected by risks, but long-term interest in virtual assets remains"
[Asia Economy Reporter Myunghwan Lee] Cryptocurrency exchange Korbit announced that its research center's analysis of institutional investors' virtual asset investment trends in the first quarter of this year shows that institutional investors maintain long-term interest in virtual assets.
Korbit's research center under Korbit published its own analysis report titled 'Institutional Investors' Steadfast Bitcoin Investment' reviewing institutional investors' virtual asset investment trends in Q1 of this year, the company said on the 19th.
According to the research center, Bitcoin wrapper funds, which showed inflows for seven weeks until the first week of March, reversed to an outflow of $58 million in April and continued this trend until the second week of May. As of the second week of May, the total assets under management (AUM) of Bitcoin wrapper funds stood at $47.6 billion, down about 14% compared to the beginning of the year.
According to CME Bitcoin futures market indicators, institutional investors have taken a cautious stance on Bitcoin investment since April, but the selling pressure is not significantly greater than before, indicating that demand for Bitcoin remains solid.
The assets under management of crypto funds fluctuated around the $60 billion level. It slightly decreased from $62.5 billion in Q4 last year to $61 billion in Q1 this year but remained at a similar level.
In Q1 this year, both the trading volume and asset contribution of institutional investors on Coinbase maintained an upward trend, proving that long-term institutional investor funds have steady demand for virtual assets. The trading volume share of institutional investors on Coinbase in Q1 was 76%, a significant increase compared to 68% in Q4 last year. The asset share also slightly rose from 49% in Q4 last year to 52% in Q1.
Researcher Yoonyoung Choi of Korbit Research Center explained, "Short-term institutional investor funds (Bitcoin wrapper funds) are affected by macro risks, but the impact is limited compared to before," adding, "Looking at the increasing contribution of institutional funds on Coinbase and the rise in venture capital funding, we can see that institutional investors maintain long-term interest in virtual assets."
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