The third quarter of 2022 has seen a slowdown in the flow of money from crypto-related funds, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The report added that the slowdown is a possible sign that many investors may already have withdrawn from the risky asset class.

Data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence showed that investors withdrew $17.6 million from cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds in the three months ending Sept. 30.

By Sept. 30, that figure had fallen below the record $683.4 million withdrawn from such funds in the second quarter, the data analysis showed.

According to the report, the last two months have seen the largest number of departures. Investors poured more than $200 million into crypto ETFs in July.

The high degree of outflows in the second quarter was related to the drop in cryptocurrency prices. The world’s largest digital asset based on market value, bitcoinit fell almost 60% during the second quarter of 2022 and hit an all-time low of $17,785 on June 18. However, the cryptocurrency increased by 3.7% in the third quarter.

The report indicated that tighter price swings aligned with more muted crypto-linked ETF outflows in the third quarter. On September 30, bitcoin was trading above $19,400, a range close to its prices at the start of the quarter.

Todd Sohn, ETF strategist at Strategas Securities, told Bloomberg: “I wonder if the second quarter was the ‘take some of these funds out of me’?”

He added that the third quarter saw “some laggards” and investors who are simply “keeping the faith mindset” and hoping that cryptocurrencies will recover.

With central banks around the world raising interest rates to curb skyrocketing inflation, global banks have tanked in recent months and risky investments like cryptocurrencies have fallen victim as recession fears mount.

“Everything is more correlated right now,” Stephane Ouellette, CEO of FRNT Financial Inc., a cryptocurrency brokerage firm, told Bloomberg.

“People who buy ETFs are in the same position as people who are in Bitcoin,” he said. “Everyone is in a panic, so they are acting the same way.”

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