Digital asset investment products posted net inflows of $117.8 million last week — the smallest weekly intake in a five-week winning streak. That headline number masks a wild ride: funds shed $619 million from Monday through Thursday, only to see a single Friday session pour in $737 million, one of the largest single-day inflows of 2026. Ethereum funds were the biggest drag, losing $81.6 million and ending a three-week run of average inflows above $190 million.
Friday’s $737 million reversal
The week looked grim until Friday. Outflows dominated for four days, with total assets under management hovering around $155 billion, roughly flat from the prior week. Then came Friday’s $737 million jolt — enough to flip the weekly total positive. Bitcoin funds absorbed $192.1 million of that, pushing year-to-date inflows to $4.2 billion. Short-bitcoin products also saw $6 million trickle in, suggesting some hedging remains in the market.
Regional shift: US slowdown, Germany steps up
American investors pulled back hard. The United States contributed just $47.5 million last week, a dramatic drop from the $1.1 billion it posted the week before. Germany picked up the slack with $43.8 million, and Canada added $16 million. The drop in US activity comes even as spot Bitcoin ETFs took in $532 million on May 4 — a third consecutive day of inflows — and Ether ETFs added $61.3 million on the same day. That strength didn’t carry through the rest of the week.
JPMorgan’s collateral policy sparks mindshare
JPMorgan Chase began accepting Bitcoin and Ether as collateral for institutional loans, including home mortgages, a move that Cookie DAO says triggered the largest mindshare gains for both assets on Crypto Twitter. The policy shift gives institutions a new way to use crypto holdings without selling, and it may have contributed to Friday’s appetite for digital asset exposure.
Tom Lee: ‘Crypto Spring’ underway
Fundstrat’s Tom Lee declared that a “Crypto Spring” has begun, pointing to progress on the CLARITY Act and what he calls Ethereum’s dual tailwinds from tokenization and artificial intelligence. The timing is notable: Ethereum funds suffered outflows last week despite that bullish narrative, but Friday’s surge suggests sentiment can flip fast. Whether the momentum carries into this week is the question traders are waking up to.
