Crypto Investments See $454M Outflows Last Week

Digital asset investment products experienced net outflows of $454 million last week, marking a swift reversal in investor sentiment during the first full week of trading in 2026. The shift, primarily driven by diminished expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in March, followed stronger-than-anticipated U.S. macroeconomic data that highlighted persistent inflation and a robust labor market.

According to CoinShares, a European crypto asset manager, the outflows unfolded over four consecutive days, totaling about $1.3 billion and nearly erasing the $1.5 billion in inflows recorded during the year's first two trading days on January 2 and 3. This abrupt change underscores the sensitivity of cryptocurrency markets to broader economic signals, with the CME FedWatch Tool showing the probability of a March rate cut dropping to around 5 percent.

Bitcoin bore the brunt of the withdrawals, with products linked to the cryptocurrency seeing $405 million in outflows. Short-Bitcoin funds also registered $9.2 million in exits, indicating uncertainty among investors about the asset's near-term direction. Ethereum-based products faced $116 million in outflows, while multi-asset...