Crypto trading volumes have fallen to a 9-month low as Europeans ditch bitcoin, although US investors are still buying: CoinShares

• Bitcoin has seen outflows in Europe but inflows from North America in the latest week, according to CoinShares.
• Trading volumes totalled $1.58 billion for the week to July 9, the lowest since October.
• Multi-asset investment products, like the Bitwise 10 crypto index fund, were the most popular last week.

Cryptocurrency trading volumes fell to their lowest in nine months in the latest week, as bitcoin continued to fluctuate in a relatively narrow range, according to data from digital asset manager CoinShares on Tuesday.

Outflows picked up speed in Europe, where regulators have toughened their scrutiny of cryptocurrency trading in general, while US investors were net buyers of crypto assets, according to CoinShares data.

The crypto trading volumes totalled $1.58 billion for the week, as activity quietened mostly for bitcoin. Bitcoin saw net outflows of $6.9 million, a steep decline from net inflows of $38.9 million the week before.

"In recent weeks, there has been a regional divide in bitcoin inflows, with North American providers seeing consistent inflows while their European counterparts have continued to see outflows, suggesting a geographic divergence in sentiment," the report said.

So far this month, bitcoin has traded in a relatively narrow band, between lows of around $32,100 and a high of around $34,500 - a far cry from the extreme volatility of May, when it swung from a low of $30,000 to a high of nearly $59,600, according to Coinbase.

Since hitting a record of nearly $65,000 in April the coin has tumbled by nearly 50%, although it is still up almost 260% in the last year.

Regulation was another factor. The UK regulator banned retail consumers from buying crypto derivatives last year. Since then, it ordered Binance, a crypto exchange, to halt regulated activities in the country.

"Europe is a little bit behind in terms of investment into crypto assets," James Butterfill, CoinShares investment strategist, told Insider.

CoinShares is Europe's largest crypto asset manager. The company had $3.35 billion under management by the end of the first quarter, according to its recent earnings report.

Other crypto assets witnessed net inflows. Ether saw inflows of $800,000, Binance coin saw inflows of $400,000 and cardano's ada token saw $600,000 in flows.

Multi-asset investment products, like Bitwise 10 crypto index fund, which tracks the performance of the top 10 crypto coins for example, were the most popular last week, with inflows of $1.2 million. CoinShares said this suggested investors were diversifying their holdings.

This article has been amended to reflect an amendment to James Butterfill's title to "investment strategist" from "chief investment strategist". There are no further changes to the story.