Just In: Bitcoin ETF Vaults the Token Past Silver with $27.5 Billion in Assets

Bitcoin has just surpassed silver to become the world’s second-largest commodity ETF, indicating crypto’s rapid growth as an investment. Data compiled by investor Jason A. Williams shows that Bitcoin ETFs have amassed $27.5 billion, placing them behind gold’s $96 billion but ahead of silver’s $11.5 billion.

BREAKING 🚨 NEWS : In WEEK 1 #Bitcoin  overtakes silver to become the second biggest commodity ETF.

1. Gold – $96b
2. BITCOIN – $27.5b
3. Silver – $11.5b

— Jason A. Williams (@GoingParabolic) January 18, 2024

This swift rise comes a week after the historic debut of the first spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US. The founder of Bitinning, Kashif Raza, expressed astonishment at the speed of Bitcoin’s ascendance, highlighting the contrast between the long-standing silver ETF and the nascent Bitcoin ETF.

He said in a post on X, “Silver ETF is in existence for 18 years now! Bitcoin overtakes silver to become the second biggest commodity ETF in just one week.”

Who are the big ETF players?

Investment firms have also taken note of the shift in commodity ETFs. However, a lot of Bitcoin ETF issuers have an existing market in the ETF space.

According to ETFDB, BlackRock, Inc. dominates as the top-ranked issuer, overseeing $2.58 trillion across 424 ETFs. Vanguard trails closely at second, with $2.35 trillion under management for 84 ETFs. Invesco stands at fourth with assets totaling approximately $459 billion from 220 ETFs.

Meanwhile, reactions to Bitcoin’s price performance have been mixed. Crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe offered a positive perspective, welcoming the market dip as an opportunity to buy. He suggests that falling below $41K signals a chance to invest in Bitcoin, and further drops would only increase that opportunity.

Conversely, economist and BTC critic Peter Schiff provided a negative outlook. He pointed out that many of the newly traded Bitcoin ETFs have quickly entered bear market territory, defined by a 20% decline from peak prices. Schiff predicts that this is just the beginning of a downturn for Bitcoin.

BTC Price Holds at $41K

Despite these differing opinions, the overarching sentiment remains on the long-term performance of the BTC price. Especially when Bitcoin halving is just a couple of months down the line.

At press time, Bitcoin is trading just above $41,000 after experiencing a 3.5% decrease over the last 24 hours. CoinGecko estimates the loss over the past week is more than 10%. Despite these dips, Bitcoin’s market cap remains above $806 billion.