CoinShares reported that in September, crypto investment products in the US saw inflows of about $4.44 billion (globally — $4.53 billion). However, the firm cautioned that inflows into Bitcoin ETFs do not provide a clear picture of institutional demand due to the impact of arbitrage strategies.

IBIT and Basis Trade Distort Demand Picture

According to CoinShares Head of Research James Butterfill, many institutional investors use the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) for a "basis" trade — buying shares of the spot ETF while simultaneously shorting Bitcoin futures to profit from price convergence. "Currently, the yield on the basis trade is attractive — about 6%, and since the start of the month, IBIT has accounted for more than 53% of the $4.1 billion in inflows," he said. CoinShares previously recorded about $3.5 billion in industry inflows over the preceding five trading days, noting that ETF purchases may reflect both arbitrage and directional bets on Bitcoin's price appreciation.

BTC Leads Inflows, Followed by ETH and ZEC

More recent CoinShares data shows that US inflows in September reached approximately $4.44 billion, with $4.53 billion globally. Bitcoin (BTC) products led with $2.84 billion in inflows, followed by Ethereum (ETH) with about $946 million; Zcash (ZEC) ranked third with $284 million.

Rotation in Digital Assets and Interest in Infrastructure

Butterfill added that investors are increasingly looking at companies benefiting from the growth of crypto adoption. He noted that at the start of September, CoinShares data showed over $100 million in inflows into blockchain equities over the previous month. He expects greater attention in the coming year to businesses at the intersection of tokenization, payments, and trading infrastructure, citing estimates that stablecoin assets could approach $4 trillion by the end of the decade, while the Hyperliquid platform recorded up to $9 billion in daily turnover.