Bitcoin ETF: Fierce Competition Between BlackRock And Fidelity As Volume Jump

‘The Nine’ spot Bitcoin ETFs witnessed a surge in trading volume on Friday, reported Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas. The Bitcoin ETFs experienced a 12% spike in trading volume compared to Thursday, a 53% increase from Wednesday. Balchunas underlined the fierce competition between Fidelity (FBTC) and BlackRock (IBIT) to get to the top of the chart.

With a combined daily volume of $1.2 billion, the recently launched set of ETPs sits in the top 1% of all ETFs. Individually, both $FBTC and $IBIT secure places in the top 2%, the reporter noted. He noted that this is extraordinary given that the average age of ETFs in this category is around 14 years.

Grayscale premium under 30 basis points

The 'Nine' saw another jump in volume today, up 12% vs Thur and 53% from Wed, a rare phenomenon. Also check out $FBTC seeing more trading than $IBIT, those two are in a legit duel to be The One.. but all of them posting huge numbers for newbies, competition is making them all… pic.twitter.com/H2zhz2mEMz

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) January 19, 2024

Meanwhile, Grayscale’s GBTC shows significantly higher trading volumes compared to other products, making it a major player in the investment space. Clearly, GBTC’s market activity relative to the rest of the market is massive.

The fund’s percent premium at press time is -0.296% based on Bloomberg Terminal data. This means that the trust’s market price is slightly below its NAV.

That said, Bitcoin is priced at around $41,500 at the time of writing.

Why is Bitcoin range-bound?

As per CoinGape analysis, there is a modest 0.7% increase, maintaining a 24-hour range between $40,299.98 and $42,093.91. While some are anxious about Bitcoin’s profit-taking after the ETF launch, crypto veteran Vijay Boyapati has a different take. According to Boyapati, Bitcoin’s price is intricately tied to the size and stability of liquidity channels.

He explained in a post on X that the recent approval of ETFs has created the largest and most stable liquidity channel to date. The crypto analyst noted, ‘It will take time for the channel to be fully utilized but it will happen.’

Boyapati drew an analogy, likening this development to the U.S. interstate system, explaining that while initial usage might be moderate, it provides the capacity for future growth. In the case of Bitcoin, he anticipates a shorter time delay for the full utilization of this liquidity channel.

 Also Read: Bitcoin ETF: Grayscale’s GBTC Records $580 Mln Net Outflow On Day 5