Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based in the United States have become a significant contributor to daily trading volumes as institutional investors show increasing interest in cryptocurrency.
“Bitcoin spot trading volumes via US-based ETFs have become an essential avenue for investor exposure to Bitcoin,” noted Julio Moreno, head of research at CryptoQuant, a blockchain analytics firm, on Thursday.
US spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs typically generate between $5 billion and $10 billion in daily volume during active trading days, occasionally exceeding most cryptocurrency exchanges, which “reflects rising institutional interest,” he remarked.
Binance maintains lead in spot trading volume
Nevertheless, the largest cryptocurrency exchange globally, Binance, continues to dominate in spot trading volume, he mentioned.
On peak days, Bitcoin volumes have surged to $18 billion, while Ether volumes have reached $11 billion.
The total daily trading volume for the 11 US spot Bitcoin funds currently stands at $2.77 billion, according to CoinGlass. This comprises about 67% of the daily spot Bitcoin volume on Binance, which is around $4.1 billion, as per CoinGecko.
Binance’s total daily volume across all of its trading pairs is approximately $22 billion.
CEX BTC volumes compared with spot BTC ETF volumes. Source: CryptoQuant
“US spot Bitcoin ETFs have become a vital element in the crypto market, demonstrating their crucial role in price discovery and the adoption by institutions,” said Nick Ruck, director at LVRG Research, to Cointelegraph.
Moreno highlighted that ETH spot trading is predominantly concentrated on Binance, trailed by Crypto.com, with ETFs capturing only 4%—illustrating “limited ETF involvement in ETH spot trading” and suggesting that “institutional adoption of Ethereum is lagging behind that of Bitcoin.”
Nevertheless, recent daily figures for ETFs present a contrasting narrative.
Related: Ether ETFs attract 10x more inflows than Bitcoin in just 5 days
Bitcoin ETF inflows slow as Ether attracts more interest
This week, inflows into the eleven spot Bitcoin ETFs have decreased, amounting to $571.6 million over the last four trading days, according to CoinGlass.
The BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) accounts for the largest share of these inflows, capturing nearly 40% or $223.3 million since Monday.
This has occurred as Bitcoin has declined approximately 2.5% since Monday, falling to $111,600 at the time of writing amid a cooling sentiment.
In contrast, spot Ether (ETH) ETFs have demonstrated superior performance with total inflows amounting to $1.24 billion, more than double that of BTC funds over the past four trading days.
Ether funds have not recorded a net outflow day since August 20 and have achieved over $4 billion in inflows this month, representing 30% of the total inflows since the introduction of the products 13 months ago.
“Current flow dynamics highlight that ETFs are not merely supplementary but are actively transforming spot market liquidity, with their trading activities increasingly reflecting underlying BTC price movements,” Ruck remarked. “These products now constitute a notable percentage of Bitcoin’s total supply, reinforcing ETFs as a key entry point for traditional capital.”
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