|

Institutional interest in Ethereum surges in 2020 Q1 amid the ongoing economic crisis

  • Grayscale’s Q1 report shows that the institutional interest in Ethereum has been skyrocketing in the past couple of months.
  • In the first quarter of 2020, investors have injected $110 million into the Grayscale Ethereum Trust. 
  • DTC Capital exec said that Ethereum had reached a turning point with high-net-worth investors.

Recent Grayscale data shows a surge in institutional investment in Ethereum and Bitcoin. Grayscale’s Q1 2020 report highlighted the increasing interest in Ethereum and the massive amounts of money that the company has received from investors. It is noteworthy that there has been a record quarterly inflow into the Grayscale Ethereum Trust during this period.

Spencer Noon, the head of crypto investments at DTC Capital, said that Ethereum has reached a turning point with high-net-worth investors.

Institutional investors are buying ETH. The cat is officially out of the bag. From the latest Grayscale report: 

[Grayscale] Ethereum Trust saw $110M in Q1 inflows. This is more than all of its previous inflows combined for the past 2 years ($95.8M).

The last few weeks of this quarter witnessed inflows into Ethereum that actually surpassed Bitcoin. In the first quarter, investors poured a whopping $389 million into the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust in addition to the $110 million invested in the Grayscale Ethereum Trust – totaling $498.9 million. 

Grayscale’s digital asset trusts are all completely backed by real cryptocurrency. Across all of its products (which also offer exposure to XRP, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ethereum Classic, Stellar Lumens, Zcash and Horizen) Grayscale has reported a record inflow total of $503.7 million. The firm says investors are turning to its products despite the ongoing global economic crisis.

Investors are tactically using drawdowns to increase their exposure to the asset class, even in a ‘riskoff’ environment. Our institutional investor segment also continued to expand, a trend that could gain additional momentum as legacy financial institutions reinforce the investment thesis for the asset class.

Additionally, as existing investors allocate to multiple products, the investment community should monitor the expansion of increased demand for diversification within the asset class.

Author

Rajarshi Mitra

Rajarshi Mitra

Independent Analyst

Rajarshi entered the blockchain space in 2016. He is a blockchain researcher who has worked for Blockgeeks and has done research work for several ICOs. He gets regularly invited to give talks on the blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies.

More from Rajarshi Mitra
Share:

Editor's Picks

Has Bitcoin really escaped the macro forces it was built to fight?

Over 17 years ago, Satoshi Nakamoto designed Bitcoin on the back of a global financial crisis as an alternative to the global monetary system outside the control of central banks, governments and traditional intermediaries. This raises a key question: has Bitcoin really become independent of the macroeconomic forces it was built to challenge?

Ethereum activates Glamsterdam on Sepolia testnet: Why the price is falling anyway

Ethereum (ETH) has reached a key milestone in its next major network upgrade. The planned changes aim to improve Ethereum’s Layer 1 capacity and efficiency as network activity grows. The development comes as ETH retreats toward $2,500.

Bitcoin Weekly Forecast: Uptober or Rektober?

Bitcoin (BTC) price is down over 4% so far this week, trading below $83,000 at the time of writing on Friday as mounting selling pressure threatens to derail the seasonal “Uptober” rally. Profit-taking, a surge in long liquidations and weakening demand from institutional investors are weighing on BTC.

Ripple bulls gather recovery momentum amid returning ETF inflows

Ripple (XRP) trades largely in bearish hands on Friday near $1.40. Although the remittance token has stabilized after a sharp sell-off from weekly highs of $1.53 to lows around $1.32, the path of least resistance remains downward, unless buyers affirm a daily close above the pivotal $1.40 level.

Bitcoin: Uptober or Rektober?
Bitcoin (BTC) price is down over 4% so far this week, trading below $83,000 at the time of writing on Friday as mounting selling pressure threatens to derail the seasonal “Uptober” rally. Profit-taking, a surge in long liquidations and weakening demand from institutional investors are weighing on BTC.