US spot Bitcoin ETFs continue upward trajectory, gain $111 billion in trading volume in March

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The US SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) approved ten spot Bitcoin ETFs (exchange-traded funds) on January 10, 2024, from well-known financial institutions like BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, and VanEck, among others. They have outperformed even the most optimistic of expectations since then, propelling Bitcoin past its last all-time high witnessed in 2021 (over $68,000) and to above $73,000 levels.

As Standard Chartered Bank forecasted in 2023, Bitcoin might as well be all set to meet its forecast of $100,000 by the end of 2024.

In March, the aforementioned spot Bitcoin ETFs witnessed a spike in their trading volume, going up to $111 billion. Notably, the March trading volume is about three times of what was recorded in February (about $42,2 billion). The frontrunners have been Grayscale’s GBTC, BlackRock’s IBIT, and Fidelity’s FBTC.

This performance signifies not only continued but increased investor interest in these instruments. Notably, spot Bitcoin ETFs allow traditional investors to gain exposure to the crypto without having to onboard a crypto exchange with unfamiliar UX. This has expanded the investor base for Bitcoin by introducing people still uninitiated to the asset class, which is the reason for Bitcoin’s latest rally.
 
On April 1, BlackRock’s IBIT recorded an inflow of $165.9 million, succeeded by Fidelity’s FBTC’s inflows of $44 million on April 1.

Notably, these two spot Bitcoin ETFs reached around $18 billion and $10 billion respectively in AUM or assets under management in March 2024.

An overarching narrative in the crypto space currently is that of Bitcoin getting closer to surpassing gold as a store of value as well as inflation hedge in the eyes of global investors. As the fourth Bitcoin halving inches closer (only 16 days away now), Bitcoin is expected to witness another bullish shove, getting it closer to the $100,000 million narrative mentioned above.  

Now Ethereum awaits its own set of spot ETF approvals from the SEC, as crypto proponents remain divided on the possibility of the regulator giving these instruments a go ahead. Either way, crypto is all set for mainstream growth in the times to come.

Shashank is the founder of yMedia. He ventured into crypto in 2013 and is an ETH maximalist.
Twitter: @bhardwajshash