The inaugural day of trading for several new Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) witnessed robust market activity, with a total trading volume exceeding $4.5 billion across ten spot Bitcoin ETFs. Leading the pack was BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT), recording over $1 billion in volume, representing 22% of the total volume for the listed funds. Fidelity’s spot Bitcoin ETF (FBTC) closely followed, amassing approximately $685 million in day one trading volume, indicating substantial investor interest.
Battle For Market Share Begins!
Grayscale’s Bitcoin ETF (GBTC) notched an impressive $2.2 billion in total volume, reflecting the conversion of its pre-existing Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. The ProShares Futures Bitcoin ETF (BITO) also made waves with record-breaking trading activity, surpassing $2 billion in total volume as per Yahoo data. Bloomberg Analysts and James Seyffar suggest that a significant portion of GBTC’s trading volume may involve selling, with investors possibly shifting to newer, more cost-effective offerings such as BlackRock’s and Fidelity’s ETFs.
In the meanwhile, Hashdex missed the ETF Train and a bigger opportunity to be listed among spot Bitcoin ETFs due to the SEC’s approval of its 19b-4 filing, resulting in the fund trading as a futures-based ETF and not holding any spot Bitcoin.
700K ETF Transactions, $4.33B Volume—What Next?
Bloomberg ETF analysts, including Eric Balchunas, noted 700,000 individual transactions on the first day of the spot Bitcoin ETFs’ launch, with a total trading volume of $4.33 billion. The breakdown included GBTC at $2.09 billion, IBIT at $1.01 billion, FBTC at $673 million, and ARKB at $673 million. BITO contributed $1.87 billion in trading volume. At the same time, Timothy Peterson, an investment manager at Cane Macro noted that the significant buying activity across these ETFs is estimated to require the purchase of approximately 47,000 Bitcoin, valued at $2.1 billion at current prices, on the spot market.
On the other hand, The ProShares Futures Bitcoin ETF’s high trading volume, exceeding $2 billion, indicates a substantial market transition from futures-based Bitcoin exposure to more economical and less volatile spot-based exposure.
Despite the enthusiasm and substantial trading volumes, the true impact of these ETFs on underlying Bitcoin purchases may take some time to materialize, offering a clearer understanding of spot inflows in the coming days. The elevated level of individual transactions and the overall trading volume on the first day underscore the heightened interest and participation of investors in the newly listed Bitcoin ETFs.
