Ether's exchange-traded funds (ETFs) experienced an unprecedented surge as they saw a record of $428.5 million go into their coffers on Thursday. Interestingly, this happened a day after Bitcoin crossed, then subsequently fell below, the $100,000 mark. As the resident digital currency of the Ethereum network and the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, Ether naturally mirrors the general trend of the crypto market, which Bitcoin significantly influences.
Data released by Farside Investors revealed that Ether ETFs have surpassed the $1 billion total inflow threshold since their introductory launch in July. While Ether ETFs were initially less popular than spot Bitcoin ETFs, investor sentiment appears to have positively shifted towards the former.
This positive shift has been noticeably evident since the 2024 American presidential elections. The anticipation of a more pro-crypto regulatory landscape under the elected president has been a driving factor for the increased inflows. Before the elections on November 5th, Ether ETFs experienced just over $500 million in outflows, primarily from the Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE). However, since November 6, investors have pumped a net total of $1.88 billion into these funds, contributing significantly to BlackRock's iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA), which garnered $1.2 billion of these inflows.
In spite of swings in Bitcoin prices that ranged from over $101,000 to as low as $92,000, Bitcoin ETFs have achieved a new milestone. Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, noted that the collective Bitcoin holdings of all spot ETFs now exceeded the suspected holdings of Bitcoin's creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.
In the most recent trading, Ether exceeded the $4,000 threshold, while Bitcoin remained below $100,000.