Crypto Funds Surge as Bitcoin Nears $78,000 Amid Geopolitical Optimism

Crypto investment products experienced a significant resurgence last week, logging $1.4 billion in inflows. This marks the second-strongest weekly performance since January, signaling a renewed appetite for digital assets among institutional and retail investors. The surge was largely catalyzed by optimism surrounding US-Iran ceasefire extension talks, which bolstered global risk sentiment. This macroeconomic backdrop coincided with a strong price breakout for Bitcoin, which nearly reached the $78,000 threshold on Friday. Bitcoin dominated the inflows, attracting $1.12 billion, with US spot Bitcoin ETFs contributing $1 billion of that total. This brought year-to-date inflows for Bitcoin to $3 billion, with assets under management reaching $123 billion. Ether also saw a strong recovery with $328 million in inflows, finally lifting its year-to-date ETP figures into positive territory at $197 million. Conversely, altcoin ETPs faced headwinds. XRP led the outflows with a $56 million decrease, while Solana recorded a minor outflow of $2.3 million. Regionally, the United States dominated the trend with $1.5 billion in inflows, contrasting sharply with Switzerland, which saw redemptions totaling $138 million. Analysts noted that markets have largely looked past March's Consumer Price Index (CPI) increase of 3.3%, viewing the 2.6% core CPI as relatively contained and primarily supply-driven. This shift in investor psychology was further reflected in the Crypto Fear & Greed Index, which rose above 29 on Monday, moving the market out of 'extreme fear' for the first time since late January.