The opening day of trading for several new Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) witnessed robust market activity, with total trading volume exceeding $4.5 billion across 10 spot Bitcoin ETFs. Leading the pack was BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT), which, with over $1 billion in trading volume, accounted for 22% of all traded funds. Fidelity’s Spot Bitcoin ETF (FBTC) also showed significant investor interest, reaching approximately $685 million on its first trading day.
The market share war begins!
Grayscale’s Bitcoin ETF (GBTC) recorded an impressive total trading volume of $2.2 billion, reflecting the conversion of the existing Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. The ProShares Futures Bitcoin ETF (BITO) also made waves with record trading activity, with total volume exceeding $2 billion, according to Yahoo data. Bloomberg analysts and James Seyffar propose A significant portion of GBTC’s trading volume may involve selling, with investors likely switching to newer, more cost-effective products such as ETFs from BlackRock and Fidelity.
In the meantime, Hashdex missed out on a bigger opportunity to be listed on ETF Train and a spot Bitcoin ETF due to the SEC’s approval of its 19b-4 filing, which resulted in the fund trading as a futures-based ETF and holding no spot Bitcoin.
700,000 ETFs traded, worth $4.33 billion – what’s next?
Bloomberg ETF analysts, including Eric Balchunas, recorded 700,000 individual transactions on the first day of launch of the spot Bitcoin ETF, with total volume reaching $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, investment manager at Cane Macro, pointed out that significant buying activity across these ETFs is estimated to require the purchase of approximately 47,000 bitcoins, worth $2.1 billion at current prices, in the spot market.
On the other hand, the high trading volume of the ProShares Futures Bitcoin ETF in excess of $2 billion indicates a significant market shift from futures-based Bitcoin exposure to more economical and less volatile spot-based exposure.
Despite the enthusiasm and significant trading volume, the actual impact of these ETFs on native Bitcoin purchases may take some time to materialize, with a clearer picture of spot inflows likely to be provided in the coming days. High individual trading levels and overall trading volume on the first day indicate increased investor interest and participation in the newly listed Bitcoin ETF.