Cumulative trading volume for U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds surpassed $150 billion on Tuesday, less than 10 weeks after the Securities and Exchange Commission approved ETFs from BlackRock, Fidelity, and Bitwise, among others.
Spot bitcoin ETF cumulative trading volume has increased by $50 billion since March 8 alone — when total volume first reached the $100 billion mark — to hit $151.4 billion by the close of trading yesterday, according to The Block’s data dashboard.
Tuesday’s spot bitcoin ETF trading volume came in at $5.6 billion, led by BlackRock’s IBIT on $2.5 billion, followed by Grayscale’s GBTC and Fidelity’s FBTC on $1.5 billion and $962 million, respectively.
Grayscale’s higher fee GBTC fund has been gradually squeezed for market share by trading volume, down from 50.5% when the spot bitcoin ETFs launched on Jan. 11 to 26.5% as of yesterday, coinciding with persistent daily outflows. BlackRock’s IBIT has been the principal benefactor, growing from a 22.1% market share to 45.2% during the same period. Fidelity’s FBTC is in third place with a 17.2% share of the market.
Spot bitcoin ETFs witness record daily net outflows as bitcoin drops 10%
The U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs combined registered a record net outflow of $326.2 million yesterday — more than doubling the prior record of $158.4 million set on Jan. 24, according to data from BitMEX Research.
Grayscale’s GBTC saw $443.5 million in outflows on Tuesday, following the record outflows of $642.5 million it registered on Monday. “Grayscale Bitcoin 
BTC
+5.94%
Trust with the most outflows of *any* ETF since March 2009 stock market low… Only took 2 months,” The ETF Store President Nate Geraci noted.
Inflows into other funds were also subdued, with BlackRock’s usually dominant ETF dropping significantly from $451.5 million on Monday to just $75.2 million yesterday — the lowest since Feb. 7. Fidelity’s FBTC was second with $39.6 million and Bitwise’s BITB third with $2.5 million. All the other spot bitcoin ETFs registered zero flows on Tuesday.
Spot bitcoin ETF flows have been a major driver for bitcoin’s price action since their launch, according to GSR research analyst Brian Rudick.
“Remember the good old days of Monday through Wednesday last week, when daily inflows totaled $2.2 billion over just 3 days? Well in the 4 trading days since, we’ve seen net outflows of $150 million, including today’s record $326 million outflow. And, BTC is down 16% since. So how did flows change on a dime?,” Rudick said.
Rudick argued it was down to who was buying, with anecdotal evidence suggesting few wealth managers are putting clients into the ETFs and the average trade size for IBIT of $13,000 suggesting retail was behind the inflows — which can more easily stop when prices stop climbing. Rudick still expects inflows to outperform expectations over the long term, however.
Yesterday represented the second consecutive day of net outflows for the funds for the first time since January amid increased market volatility as bitcoin’s price slid 10% from a peak of $68,136 to a low of $61,506. The cryptocurrency then briefly dropped to a low of $60,771 earlier this morning before recovering.
Bitcoin is currently trading at $63,170, according to The Block’s price page, up over 50% year-to-date.
BTC/USD price chart. Image: The Block/TradingView.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.