XRP, Solana funds draw inflows as Bitcoin posts $982M outflows

According to CoinShares' weekly fund flows report for the week ending May 18, 2026, digital asset exchange-traded products recorded net outflows of $1.07 billion. The shift ended a six-week streak of positive flows and highlighted a rotation within crypto exposures as investors reduced positions in Bitcoin and Ethereum while allocating selectively to certain altcoins.

The firm reported $982 million of outflows from Bitcoin investment products and $249 million from Ethereum products during the period. In contrast, listed products tracking XRP attracted $67.6 million and those tracking Solana drew $55.1 million in net inflows. CoinShares' head of research James Butterfill noted that the United States accounted for roughly $1.14 billion of the regional outflows, while several European markets recorded modest inflows, cushioning the global picture.

These movements reduced total assets under management in digital asset products from about $159 billion to $157 billion and marked one of the largest weekly redemptions of 2026. The report also identified smaller but meaningful inflows into a range of alternative tokens, suggesting that investors were not exiting crypto wholesale but instead seeking selective exposure to assets perceived as benefiting from recent regulatory or market developments.

CoinShares linked the pullback mainly to a short-term risk-off tied to geopolitical developments—report language highlights Iran-related headlines—and noted that progress on the CLARITY Act in the United States had helped support demand for some altcoin products. The divergence between heavy redemptions in the flagship BTC and ETH products and inflows into XRP and Solana points to a more nuanced allocation behavior among institutional investors.

Looking ahead, market participants expect continued volatility and emphasize that flows could reverse quickly if risk sentiment stabilizes. Portfolio managers indicate that a return of US inflows into major products would likely restore broader market momentum, while sustained selective buying could lift certain altcoin price dynamics. CoinShares' data underlines that institutional interest remains differentiated across crypto assets rather than uniformly bullish or bearish.