Bitcoin has fallen. Newcomers were ready to buy

Crypto markets are calm over the weekend after a volatile week that tested how institutional investors new to crypto trading will react to the colossal swings that have become commonplace for more seasoned investors.

The sell-off in Bitcoin and Ethereum began earlier this week just as markets in Japan took a nosedive. But it turns out that these cryptocurrency newcomers were willing to buy the dip.

Spot ether exchange-traded funds collectively saw net inflows of about $120 million, with most traders buying on Monday and Tuesday, when the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency fell 42% from its March high of more than $4,000, CNBC writes.

Data from crypto analytics firm CoinGlass shows demand began to pick up again midweek, with spot funds increasing by more than $245 million on Wednesday and Thursday.

Hundreds of millions of dollars began flowing into spot Bitcoin ETFs the same day Morgan Stanley entered the space, with its 15,000 advisors now offering Bitcoin ETFs to large investors. These advisors are only allowed to offer their clients shares of iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) from BlackRock and Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) from Fidelity. The bank, one of the world’s largest asset managers, became the first major Wall Street player to take this step. Up to this point, asset management companies would only facilitate trading if clients specifically requested access to these new crypto spot funds. Morgan Stanley’s decision, according to rivals from Fidelity, deserves special attention, since large US financial advisory firms have historically been wary of spot cryptocurrency ETFs.

It is expected that other financial institutions and asset managers may soon feel the pressure to follow Morgan Stanley’s lead.

Ether spot ETFs, launched less than three weeks ago, have seen relatively weak flows compared to the box office launch of Bitcoin spot ETFs in January. Bitcoin funds collectively manage $54.30 billion in assets, compared to $7.25 billion in Ether spot funds.

Keeping pace with US stocks

For most of the week, the cryptocurrency market traded in unison with US stocks.

Since Monday, the market capitalization of all tokens has grown by hundreds of billions of dollars and now exceeds $2.1 trillion.

Bitcoin hit an intraday high of nearly $63,000 on Friday, while ether previously traded above $2,700.

Over the past 24 hours, more than $100 million in short bets on Bitcoin have been liquidated, pushing Bitcoin higher.

While Bitcoin and Ether are well above Monday’s intraday lows, both assets are still down over the past seven days, with Ether posting its worst weekly performance in nearly two years.

It’s a similar story with some crypto-related stocks. Shares of Coinbase, MicroStrategy and Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms posted their third weekly loss in a row.

Cryptocurrency price action this week has demonstrated how closely digital assets continue to track U.S. stocks and how they react to the same macroeconomic factors. After a strong market decline in Asia, cryptocurrencies began to fall. On Thursday, the S&P 500 had its best day in nearly two years, and the cryptocurrency market bounced back sharply.

And regulatory trends appear to be changing. Another American judge sided with the cryptocurrency industry in a lawsuit against the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

District Judge Analisa Torres ruled that Ripple must pay $125 million in fines, significantly less than the $2 billion the SEC was seeking. Ripple’s XRP token jumped 22% on Thursday on the news.