After BTC hits all-time high, bitcoin ETF volumes also peak

The 10-fund segment saw trade volumes amounting to roughly $9.5 billion on Tuesday — beating the record set on Feb. 28

March 5, 2024 04:43 pm

ioda/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

Trading volumes for the US spot bitcoin ETFs reached a new daily high just hours after BTC hit a record price of about $69,000.

The 10-fund segment’s volumes totaled roughly $9.5 billion on Tuesday, according to Yahoo Finance data — eclipsing the previous record of about $7.6 billion set on Feb. 28.

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) led the way on volumes once again, with $3.7 billion worth of the fund’s shares trading on the day.

Volumes for the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC) and the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) followed with $2.8 billion and $2 billion, respectively.

“Volatility and volume go hand in hand with ETFs so not totally surprised,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Eric Balchunas said in an X post. “That said, these are bananas numbers for ETFs under [two months] old.”

Demand for the US spot bitcoin ETFs has surged in recent weeks as BTC price marched to an all-time high Tuesday. The Securities and Exchange Commission approved the offerings in January after years of blocking such funds — unlocking easier access to bitcoin exposure for a wider set of investors.

The asset rose to above $69,000 at about 10 am ET. The price of bitcoin (BTC) stood at about $62,000 at 4 pm ET — down about 10% from its apex.

The 10 bitcoin funds have seen roughly $8 billion of net inflows since launching on Jan. 11, according to BitMEX research data — a total coming despite higher-priced GBTC’s nearly $9.3 billion of net outflows.

Roughly $1.6 billion of the segment’s positive flows came last week, during which the category’s trade volumes hit a record $22 billion.

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