The cryptocurrency investment sector experienced an unprecedented surge last week, with digital asset investment products attracting a massive $3.85 billion in inflows. This figure shattered the previous record set just weeks earlier.

Year-to-Date Growth and Record Highs

According to a report by CoinShares, the inflow of $3.85 billion for the week of December 2–6 has brought the year-to-date (YTD) inflows to a staggering $41 billion. This surge has led to total assets under management (AUM) in digital asset investment products reaching a new all-time high of $165 billion, surpassing the 2021 peak when AUM reached $83 billion.

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, attracted the lion's share of the inflows, with $2.5 billion pouring into Bitcoin-focused investment products. This brings Bitcoin's YTD inflows to a record $36.5 billion. Interestingly, despite Bitcoin's strong performance, short Bitcoin products saw minimal inflows of just $6.2 million. 

Ethereum, on the other hand, experienced its largest weekly inflow ever, with $1.2 billion flooding into Ethereum-based investment products. This record-breaking surge surpasses even the significant inflows seen after the launch of spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in July. Ethereum's impressive growth comes amid increasing institutional interest, particularly as Ethereum continues to gain traction with major decentralized finance (DeFi) projects and the Ethereum 2.0 upgrade.

The broader blockchain sector also benefited from the surge in investor interest. Blockchain equities saw $124 million in inflows, the highest amount since January. This growth is largely attributed to improved margins for Bitcoin miners, whose profitability has risen due to the increased value of Bitcoin.

Despite the overall surge in inflows, Solana, another prominent cryptocurrency, faced outflows of $14 million, marking its second consecutive week of losses. 

Regional Inflows: The U.S. Dominates

The United States led the global inflows, contributing a substantial $3.6 billion of the total $3.85 billion for the week. Other countries also saw notable contributions, including Switzerland ($160 million), Germany ($116 million), Canada ($14 million), and Australia ($10 million). 

Worth noting, for the first time ever, Bitcoin surpassed $100k last week, signaling increased optimism in the market.