AUM for crypto exchange-traded products rose 67% in Q1, outperforming asset prices by 34% YTD

The total value of assets under management (AUM) for crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) increased by 67% in the first three months of 2023, according to the latest report detailing the statistics.

The report was released on Wednesday, April 12 by Fineqia International Inc. (CSE: FNQ ), a publicly traded company that invests in early and growth stage technology projects, and a UK debt securities manager.

Digital asset ETPs AUM outperformed underlying crypto prices in Q1 by 34%

An analysis of the global exchange-traded products (ETPs) that have cryptocurrencies as underlying assets showed that the total value of these products in terms of AUM increased from $20 billion to $33.3 billion during Q1.

Meanwhile, total crypto market capitalization increased from $800 billion to $1.19 trillion – indicating a 67% increase in crypto ETP AUM and 50% growth in cryptocurrency valuation during the quarter. According to Fineqia, the difference highlights a 34% premium growth in ETP investments relative to the underlying market value of digital assets.

In March, crypto ETPs AUM rose 17% while crypto prices rose 11%, with Fineqia’s February report (which Invezz highlighted here) putting total crypto ETPs AUM at $28 billion.

The analysis of 160 ETPs, which included exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded notes (ETNs), also showed that AUM for ETPs holding top altcoins rose 1% during the quarter. However, those representing a basket of cryptocurrencies rose by 14%.

Fineqia CEO Bundeep Singh Rangar commented on the statistics as indicative of the “upward momentum” that had marked the first quarter of 2023. Rangar also noted that the data revealed renewed interest in digital asset ETPs from investors.

Bitcoin and Ethereum accounted for 93% of total crypto ETP AUM in Q1

Bitcoin and Ethereum price growth in the quarter, which accounted for 71% and 52% year-to-date gains, along with related capital inflows, contributed to ETPs’ AUM, Fineqia researchers noted in the report.

The jump in BTC and ETH prices were important factors as the top two cryptocurrencies by market capitalization accounted for roughly 93% of total crypto ETP AUM in the quarter.

The BTC price of $28,500 on March 31 showed a 21% increase from prices recorded at the end of February, which also saw assets under management of bitcoin ETPs rise by 21% – from $19.2 billion to 23 .2 billion dollars. A similar trend was observed for Ethereum, whose price rose 11% over the same period, and saw AUM for ETH-based ETPs jump 11% – from $6.85 billion to $7.6 billion.

The crypto-ETP AUM statistics reflect the value of the products offered by top providers such as 21Shares AG, Grayscale Investment, VanEck, MorningStars and TrackInSight SAS. All the data was from publicly available sources, Fineqia noted in its report.