$111 Billion: Bitcoin ETF Hits Record Volume in March
Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) trading volume in March reached a record $111 billion, nearly three times the February trading volume of $42 billion.
Approved by the SEC earlier this year, the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF has rapidly gained traction among investors. Their trading volume last month surpassed even the most optimistic expectations.
new: #bitcoin ETFs saw record trading volume of $111 billion in March.
It is 3 times the inflow in February 🤯 pic.twitter.com/Ol1PaS8vC9
— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) April 3, 2024
Trading volume in March was about three times that of February and January, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas. The massive rally indicates that spot Bitcoin ETFs are meeting strong demand from institutional and retail investors.
“I can’t imagine April will be any bigger, but who knows,” he said.
BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) leads the way, accounting for 50% of total volume. Grayscale’s GBTC took second place with 20%, followed by Fidelity’s FBTC with 17%.
Balchunas declared IBIT “the $GLD of Bitcoin,” referring to the giant SPDR Gold ETF. He said that the March win made IBIT the clear leader among Bitcoin ETFs.
The surge in trading activity coincides with Bitcoin hitting a new all-time high in March. However, this suggests that spot ETFs are changing market dynamics and creating new demand.
Critics initially claimed that the Bitcoin market would ignore the new product. However, fund flows to funds such as IBIT and FBTC have been overwhelmingly positive.
Demand far surpasses Bitcoin mining. ETFs purchased approximately 66,000 BTC in March, while miners produced only 28,500 BTC. This supply-demand imbalance is likely to grow as more investors gain exposure through ETFs and as new coins mined are halved in two weeks during the Bitcoin halving event.
With strong inflows, assets under management, and trading activity, these new regulatory instruments are firmly established within the Bitcoin market. If March was any indication, their rise has only just begun.
