On Tuesday, the third day of trading for the U.S.-based spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), there was a noticeable decrease in activity with trading volumes falling by 37% from the levels seen on Jan. 12, 2024. The day concluded with most funds slightly over 1% lower against the U.S. dollar, with Grayscale’s GBTC capturing the lion’s share of the trading volume.
Grayscale’s GBTC Dominates as Bitcoin ETF Trading on Tuesday Taps $1.94 Billion
This downturn in trading vigor was evident when compared to the initial two days for the nine newly introduced spot bitcoin ETFs, along with the recently converted GBTC ETF. Market data revealed that the total trading volume for the ten U.S.-focused spot BTC ETFs amounted to a total of $1.94 billion. The day prior saw $3.15 billion in global trade volume and to date, $9.63 billion has been recorded across all three days of trading.
GBTC and Blackrock’s IBIT dominated the trading volume, with GBTC registering a significant $1.01 billion and IBIT recording $372.31 million. The Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) experienced substantial trading as well, with $322.82 million, while Ark Invest and 21shares’ ARKB ETF observed $124.52 million in trades. This means, out of the ten spot bitcoin ETFs, those four equated to $1.83 billion or 94.32% of the day’s volume.
At 11:59 a.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, in the afternoon, Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst, Eric Balchunas, remarked on the trading volume. He observed that it demonstrated a “dropoff rate” similar to that of BITO, describing BITO as “the most successful organic launch in ETF history.” Meanwhile, bitcoin prices have been rangebound over the last few days since the ETFs launched with bitcoin (BTC) down 1.2% on Jan. 17, 2024.
Later in the evening on Tuesday, Balchunas further noted how well the ten spot BTC ETFs did over the three-day run reaching nearly $10 billion. “Let me put into context how insane $10b in volume is in first 3 days,” Balchunas said. “Today, they did a COMBINDED $450m in volume. The best one did $45m. And many have had months to get going. IBIT alone is seeing more activity than the entire ’23 Freshman Class.”
What do you think about the spot bitcoin ETF trade volume over the past three trading days? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
