Hundreds of billions of dollars in cross-border cryptocurrency payments flow globally, driven primarily by speculative investment, according to a recent report by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

The BIS study, published May 8, found cross-border payments using the two largest cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), and the two largest stablecoins, USDt (USDT) and USDC (USDC), totaled about $600 billion during the second quarter of 2024, the final observation period covered by the analysis.

“Our findings highlight speculative motives and global funding conditions as key drivers of native crypto asset flows,” the BIS said.

Cross-border crypto asset flows by quarter. Source: BIS

Still, the report noted that stablecoins and low-value Bitcoin transactions are frequently driven by practical use cases, particularly as alternatives to traditional remittances. The researchers pointed out that geographical barriers have less influence on cryptocurrency transactions compared with traditional financial systems.

Related: Spar supermarket in Switzerland starts accepting Bitcoin payments

Speculative crypto activity remains tied to “global conditions for funding in major crypto markets,” signaling a growing “interconnectedness” between cryptocurrencies and the legacy financial system, the researchers said, adding:

“Concurrently, we observe that tighter global funding conditions, known to curtail risk-taking in traditional asset classes, are associated with reduced flows. This indicates increasing interconnectedness between cryptoassets as speculative assets and mainstream finance.”

Additionally, crypto-specific risks and heightened public awareness significantly influence crypto investment flows, reinforcing their role as speculative assets, according to the BIS.

The findings were published nearly a month after the BIS warned that the number of investors and amount of capital in crypto and decentralized finance (DeFi) had “reached a critical mass,” posing a threat to financial stability and global wealth inequality, Cointelegraph reported on April 19.

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Stablecoin, low-value Bitcoin payments fueled by fiat inflation, high transfer costs

Beyond speculative investment tools, stablecoins and Bitcoin are also used as a “transactional medium.”

“Higher opportunity costs of fiat currency usage, such as high inflation, spur bilateral cross-border transactions in both unbacked cryptoassets and stablecoins,” the BIS stated, adding:

“Likewise, greater economic activity within both sender and receiver countries is often linked to increased crypto flows in most cases.”

High remittance fees charged by traditional financial institutions further bolster crypto adoption for international money transfers, especially from developed economies to emerging markets, the report stated.

Global USDT flow map. Source: BIS

The US and the UK accounted for a cumulative 20% of cross-border payments using Bitcoin and USDC, and nearly 30% using ETH.

As for USDT, Russia and Turkey accounted for over 12% of the cross-border transactions using the world’s largest stablecoin.

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Crypto exchange Backpack announced that customers of the defunct crypto exchange FTX EU can begin reclaiming their funds through its service.

According to a May 12 X post, Backpack now allows FTX EU users who selected it as the redistribution platform to claim their euro balance. Users must first complete Know Your Customer (KYC) verification on the exchange before they can withdraw funds.

Backpack’s support page also explains that the KYC details on the platform must match the ones provided to FTX EU:

“If they do not, you will need to contact Backpack EU support at support@eu.backpack.exchange to update your Backpack EU account to reflect the same information used for your FTX EU claim. This ensures a smooth verification process and avoids delays in accessing your distribution.”

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FTX EU claims process begins

Backpack opened the claim process for former FTX EU exchange users on April 1. To access their claim through the platform, users had to create an exchange account and go through the aforementioned KYC checks. No deadline has been set for users going through the process.

The support page clarifies that not all European Union-based FTX users are FTX EU users. Those users who signed up to FTX before March 7, 2022, are not FTX EU users unless they later specifically signed up on the FTX EU platform. The documentation states:

“Generally, EU-based users who signed up to FTX on or after March 7, 2022, are FTX EU customers, in which case they should make their claim with FTX EU.“

Still, no rule is set in stone. Backpack explained that some EU-based users signed up to FTX International after March 7, 2022. The exchange recommends checking the terms of service to determine which FTX platform they signed up for.

Related: FTX says Backpack acquisition of EU arm has not been approved by court

Backpack’s involvement with FTX EU

Backpack acquired FTX EU in January 2025 to offer crypto derivatives, including perpetual futures, in Europe. The deal came after a lengthy battle to buy the European arm of the bankrupt exchange.

Backpack CEO Armani Ferrante explained at the time that the firm would return FTX EU funds as fast and as safely as possible. Shortly after the acquisition, Backpack clashed with the FTX estate over ownership rights to FTX EU.

The US-based FTX estate claimed at the time that the shares of FTX EU remain under the ownership of FTX Europe AG, a subsidiary of FTX. According to the statement, the previously announced transfer of shares to FTX EU’s co-founders, Patrick Gruhn and Robin Matzke, had not yet occurred.

“As of today, 100% of the share capital of FTX EU is held by FTX Europe AG, an FTX subsidiary,” the FTX estate claimed.

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Cryptocurrency investment products continued receiving healthy inflows last week, attracting $882 million as global crypto funds approached all-time high asset levels.

Global crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) recorded $6.3 billion of inflows in the past four weeks, accounting for 93% of total inflows year-to-date (YTD), according to data from European crypto investment firm CoinShares.

Total YTD inflows now stand at $6.7 billion, closing in on the record $7.3 billion posted in early February, according to CoinShares’ head of research James Butterfill.

Weekly crypto ETP inflows since late 2024. Source: CoinShares

Amid strong investor demand, crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States reached a record $62.9 billion in cumulative net inflows since launch in January 2024, surpassing the previous high of $61.6 billion set in February, Butterfill noted in a May 12 fund flows update.

Total AUM nears historic record of $173 billion

The continued inflow streak has brought total assets under management (AUM) in global crypto funds to $169 billion, just 2.5% below the historic record of $173.3 billion seen in the last week of January, according to CoinShares data.

However, the latest $882 million of inflows were a notable cooldown from $2 billion seen in the first week of May and $3.4 billion posted in the last week of April.

Bitcoin (BTC) dominated with $867 million in inflows in the past week, with YTD inflows reaching $6.6 billion and AUM rising to $146 billion.

Crypto ETP flows by asset as of May 10, 2025 (in millions of US dollars). Source: CoinShares

Inflows to Ether (ETH) investment products were less significant, posting $1.5 million inflows, with AUM edging up to $12 billion.

Sui (SUI) was the biggest winner among altcoins, with Sui ETPs seeing $11.7 million of inflows last week.

Solana (SOL) was the only altcoin to see outflows last week, totaling $3.4 million and dragging month-to-date outflows to $2.9 million.

BlackRock’s iShares outstrip total inflows

According to CoinShares, crypto fund inflows were again highly concentrated in BlackRock’s iShares products, which saw $1 billion of inflows last week.

Year-to-date, BlackRock has attracted $8.1 billion in inflows, significantly exceeding the industry’s total of $6.7 billion.

Related: BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF posts $356 million inflows, marking the longest streak of 2025

Grayscale and Bitwise continued to see outflows, losing $168 million and $27 million respectively during the past week. Fidelity and ARK reversed previous negative trends, reporting inflows of $62 million and $46 million, respectively.

Crypto ETP flows by issuer as of May 10, 2025 (in millions of US dollars). Source: CoinShares

Bullish trend driven by rise in money supply, macro factors

The ongoing bullish trend in the crypto ETP industry came amid a rally in the cryptocurrency markets, with Bitcoin reclaiming $100,000 for the first time since January on May 8.

Amid the growing investor sentiment, the total crypto market capitalization surged to nearly $3.5 trillion, down 11% from the historic high of $3.9 trillion posted in mid-December 2024, according to data from CoinGecko.

Bitcoin (BTC) price chart since January 2024. Source: CoinGecko

“We believe the sharp increase in both prices and inflows is driven by a combination of factors: a global rise in M2 money supply, stagflationary risks in the US and several US states approving Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset,” CoinShares’ Butterfill wrote.

Bitcoin traded at $104,407 at the time of publication, slightly down from a historic high above $106,000 posted on Dec. 17, 2024.

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