Crypto sees fifth consecutive week of outflows, with negative sentiment focused on bitcoin

Published Mon, May 22 202312:04 PM EDTUpdated Mon, May 22 20231:16 PM EDT

Crypto investment products are coming off their fifth consecutive week of outflows while trading volumes on trusted exchanges hit their lowest level since late 2020, according to CoinShares. Outflows in popular electronic trading products, mutual funds and OTC trusts referencing bitcoin , ether and other crypto assets totaled $32 million for the week ending May 19, CoinShares said in a weekly report Monday. "This was another down week for crypto and, interestingly, a week of divergence with upbeat equity markets," Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani said in a note Monday. "Crypto continues to remain the best performing asset this year relative to gold, equities, bonds and DXY." Most of the negative sentiment was concentrated in bitcoin, as has been the case over the past five weeks, CoinShares analyst James Butterfill said in the report. The market saw $32.7 million in bitcoin outflows, followed by $1 million in ether. Altcoins, most notably the Avalanche token and litecoin, saw inflows. Bitcoin and ether prices have been in a lull for much of May, struggling to break above $30,000 and more recently dropping below $27,000. Analysts are largely unconcerned about the decline, as they've been expecting bigger swings on both the upside and the downside due to thinner liquidity in the market this year. On top of that, crypto's biggest upside catalyst, the banking crisis, has quieted lately and traders have anticipated sideways trading at the current range until a new catalyst comes along. "Talks on the debt ceiling still remain the hottest topic as the deadline nears. U.S. President Joe Biden and House Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy are reported to resume talks from Monday, and if some form of agreement could be reached, risk appetite across stock and crypto markets will likely improve," said Yuya Hasegawa, an analyst at Japanese crypto firm Bitbank. BTC.CM= 1M mountain Bitcoin (BTC) 1-month Bernstein's Chhugani echoed that. "The next catalyst could be any news around debt-ceiling negotiations and how close the government may be to a potential default," he said. "Crypto's low equities correlation means the macro-led digital-gold focus will continue. Any sign of dislocation in U.S. banks/the U.S. Dollar/the U.S. debt crisis could trigger crypto markets to catch a bid amidst the chaos." Prices for both bitcoin and ether are on pace for their worst month of 2023.