- Grayscale, BlackRock, and Fidelity lead a historic debut of Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S., with a record-breaking $4 billion trading volume on the first day.
- This landmark event marks a significant step in integrating cryptocurrency with traditional financial markets, buoyed by robust investor confidence.
In a recent landmark event reported by Bloomberg, the U.S. financial markets witnessed the historic debut of Bitcoin ETFs, led by Grayscale, BlackRock, and Fidelity. This launch, following approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, represents a major milestone in the decade-long effort to merge cryptocurrency with the mainstream financial market.
Eric Balchunas, a Senior ETF Analyst, shed light on this development through a tweet, noting an extraordinary 700,000 individual trades across 11 spot ETFs, doubling the trade volume of $QQQ. This level of participation indicates a significant grassroots-level interest, marking a pivotal moment in ETF history.
All told there were 700,000 individual trades today in and out of the 11 spot ETFs. For context, that is double the number of trades for $QQQ (altho it sees much bigger $ volume bc bigger fish use it) So a lot more grassroots action (vs big seed buys) than I expected which is… pic.twitter.com/syUGfjHQpr
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) January 11, 2024
In a subsequent tweet, Balchunas highlighted the trading shift in GBTC, as investors opted for newer, more cost-effective ETFs offered by BlackRock and Fidelity. He pointed out, “BITO and GBTC are both in the Top 10 among overall ETFs in trading volume today.
Adding to this perspective, investment manager Timothy Peterson from Cane Macro estimated that the trading activities would necessitate the purchase of approximately 47,000 Bitcoin, worth $2.1 billion. This underscores the significant market demand stemming from the ETF launch.
3/ Today's volume required an estimated 47,000 #Bitcoin to be purchased on the spot market. By comparison, an average 500,000 Bitcoin are traded daily. Today's activity had minimal impact on liquidity. pic.twitter.com/kd1X3YSxl2
— Timothy Peterson, CFA CAIA (@nsquaredcrypto) January 11, 2024
CNF also spotlighted this record-setting event, noting that the $4 billion trading volume is the highest ever for an ETF on its first day. Bloomberg predicted a $4 billion asset influx on day one, particularly for BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF, reflecting strong investor interest. They further project that the Spot Bitcoin ETF could reach $50 billion in total assets within its first two years, highlighting the promising potential of cryptocurrency-based financial products.
To further contextualize the scale of this event, below is a table listing the top 25 most successful ETF launches based on their first-day performance:
