ETF: AI Attracts Billions from Wall Street as Crypto Changes Tracks

One trillion dollars in six months. American ETFs (exchange-traded funds) have just completed the best half-year in their history while mutual funds continue to drain. In its new << Guide to ETFs >>, J.P. Morgan Asset Management names the fuel for this rush: artificial intelligence, now firmly in the top 5 themes by assets under management. And while Wall Street is intoxicated with AI, a quieter rotation is reshuffling the cards in the crypto ETF space, where a newcomer named HYPE is capturing the capital that Bitcoin is letting slip away.

Key Points

• AI-related ETFs are in the top 5 themes by assets according to JPMorgan's new Guide to ETFs.
• Record collection of $1 trillion for American ETFs in the first half, while mutual funds continue to see outflows.
• Bitcoin spot ETFs experienced a record monthly outflow of $4.06 billion in June, bringing their assets down to below $83 billion.
• HYPE (Hyperliquid) ETFs have recorded eight consecutive weeks of inflows, capturing $161 million in June.

AI: The King Theme of ETFs According to JPMorgan

The report published this month places thematic funds related to artificial intelligence among the top five themes in assets under management, despite a turbulent second quarter marked by volatility. Robotics, cybersecurity, semiconductors: yesterday's thematic bets are converging one by one towards the same narrative, a gravitational pull that the stock market turbulence of spring has not been able to halt.

The strategist who led the team behind the report describes an increasingly porous boundary between AI-branded ETFs and those dedicated to infrastructure. All of this somehow fuels the story of AI... applications, energy, and AI models, he notes. Data centers, power grids, chips: AI is no longer just another sector; it is a magnet for capital that attracts neighboring themes.

Mutual Funds: The Hemorrhage Continues

The same document quantifies a structural shift: mutual funds have recorded net outflows for several years, while ETFs are breaking record after record. This will only continue, warns Jon Maier. The gap is largely due to U.S. tax policy, as ETFs generally do not distribute taxable capital gains, unlike traditional funds.

The flows illustrate the phenomenon: over $1 trillion has flowed into American ETFs in the first half, a historic record, bringing total assets to $15.8 trillion. State Street now projects $2.3 trillion in collections for the entire year. However, the bounty remains concentrated: about 800 funds have collected nothing at all, with most of the money flowing to a handful of winners, both passive and active.

Bitcoin Bleeds, HYPE Gains: Wall Street's Crypto Rotation

On the crypto side, the second quarter resembled a purge. American Bitcoin spot ETFs experienced 13 consecutive sessions of net outflows between mid-May and early June, amounting to $4.37 billion lost, before recording a monthly outflow record of $4.06 billion in June. Their assets shrank from $104.3 billion to less than $83 billion, while BTC struggled to defend the $60,000 mark.

But money is not leaving crypto; it is changing tracks. Launched in mid-May by Bitwise and 21Shares, and later joined by Grayscale, the ETFs backed by the HYPE token from Hyperliquid, the largest decentralized derivatives exchange platform, have recorded eight consecutive weeks of inflows: $161 million in June alone, including one week with $111 million. XRP funds added $59.4 million in June, marking their third consecutive positive month.

At the beginning of July, flows have indeed turned positive across the board, with Bitcoin leading the way, followed by Ether, XRP, Solana, and HYPE, marking one of the best crypto collection sessions of the year. From artificial intelligence to a token of a decentralized exchange, the ETF machine no longer sorts narratives; it absorbs them. With $2.3 trillion in expected collections for the year, crypto issuers have every reason to celebrate: the ETF envelope has become their best salesperson on Wall Street.

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