Internet reports that U.S. exchange-traded funds tracking ether have set records for capital inflows and trading volumes as key cryptocurrency legislation backed by Trump advances. Investors injected $727 million into the nine ETFs on Wednesday after a sluggish performance at the beginning of the year, while trading volume on the ETFs reached $2.6 billion as the price of ether rose. Open interest in ether futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange also hit a new high, a sign that institutional demand for the second-largest cryptocurrency is increasing. The rise of ether has further strengthened the momentum of cryptocurrency bulls. Since the November election, bulls have been betting that Trump's second term will usher in a new era of loose cryptocurrency regulation, and have entered in large numbers. Overall, their bets paid off: Bitcoin, the mainstream cryptocurrency, surged to a record high of $123,205 on Monday.