Bitcoin Spot ETFs: Weekly Recap

Since January 11th, the first day of trading for Bitcoin Spot ETFs, the BTC ETF has experienced a significant drop of 6.6%, plummeting from nearly $49,000 to $42,876, with the most substantial decline occurring in the first two days. The intra-week low reached $41,753, according to CoinGecko data.

While some prominent investors had hoped for a price surge in BTC during the first week of trading for Bitcoin Spot ETFs, industry analysts consider the ETFs' initial performance a success. Despite failing to spark a price jump, these funds garnered remarkable attention and trading volumes.

The debut of Bitcoin Spot ETFs in the United States marked one of the most successful ETF launches in terms of trading volumes. In the first three days, the combined volume of the ten ETFs reached $10 billion. Erik Balchunas, a Bloomberg ETF analyst, noted that the total volume of all 500 ETFs launched in 2023 amounted to just $450 million, a fraction of what Bitcoin Spot ETFs achieved in just three days.

The ETF Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) saw the most significant trading volume in the first three days, accounting for approximately 50% of the total $10 billion traded. As of now, GBTC's trading volume exceeds $6.3 billion, with roughly $2 billion processed in the first two days. However, GBTC experienced significant outflows of $1.2 billion during the initial three days of trading.

While GBTC sold substantial amounts of Bitcoin in the early days of trading, other Bitcoin Spot ETFs were actively accumulating BTC. Capital15C, a Bitcoin investor, reported that GBTC sold a total of 27,122 BTC, equivalent to 4.4% of its initial assets of 619,200 BTC. In contrast, other ETF issuers, including BlackRock, Fidelity, and ARK Invest, purchased over 40,000 BTC combined.

BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), the second-largest Bitcoin Spot ETF by assets, increased its holdings from 2,621 BTC on January 11th to 25,067 BTC on January 17th.

As per the latest available data from ETF issuers, Bitcoin Spot ETFs collectively hold 651,819 BTC, accounting for 3.32% of the total 19.6 million Bitcoins ever issued.

On the fifth day of trading, ETF BlackRock recorded the highest net Bitcoin purchases compared to other funds, while the Grayscale fund continued to see outflows.

It's worth noting that reports on Bitcoin purchases are delayed compared to transaction volume figures for each fund due to calculation delays.

As of January 18th, BlackRock and Fidelity's Bitcoin ETFs each managed over $1 billion in assets under management, ranking fourth and fifth, respectively, in terms of weekly capital inflows among all U.S. ETFs.

Bitwise was the only asset manager to report its Bitcoin holdings on January 18th, adding an additional 491 BTC in a single day.

Despite a minor drop of less than 1% since January 17th, Bitcoin experienced a 3.5% decline in the past 24 hours. The impact of these ETFs on the cryptocurrency market continues to be closely monitored.