Crypto Funds Hit by Redemptions as Investors Retreat From Bitcoin

Investors pulled some $50 million from cryptocurrency funds last week, the first net redemptions of the year, as bitcoin's (BTC) price tumbled.

According to a report Monday by CoinShares, outflows from bitcoin-focused funds totaled a record $98 million in the seven days through May 14, while investment products focused on other digital assets continued to pull in new money.

The net amount still represents a small fraction of the $5.6 billion put into cryptocurrency funds this year, but the outflows show how quickly some investors were to retreat as bitcoin began a price pullback that has now extended to as much as 35% from April's all-time high.

"Investors have been diversifying out of bitcoin and into altcoin investment products," according to CoinShares.

• Investor demand for investment products focused on ether (ETH) continued to rise, totaling $27 million last week.
• May marks the first month there has been more investment product trading volumes in ether relative to bitcoin.
• Digital asset investment products focused on ether traded a total of $4.1 billion for the week, versus bitcoin's $3.1 billion.
• “We also saw inflows into other digital assets, the most popular being cardano (ADA) and polkadot (DOT), with inflows of $6 million and $3.3 million, respectively.”

Read more: Bitcoin Suffers Biggest Pullback This Year, Drops to 3.5-Month Low Near $42K