The first spot bitcoin (BTC-USD) exchange-traded funds that debuted on the U.S. exchanges were off to a roaring start, with more than $4.6B worth of shares changing hands on Thursday, propelling the top cryptocurrency briefly above $48,000.
The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (OTC:GBTC), which uplisted to NYSE Arca after being cleared as an ETF, saw the largest trading volume on Thursday at $2.29B. BlackRock’s (BLK) iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) saw over $1B change hands, while Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) saw $688M in volume.
Standard Chartered projected that ETFs could draw $50B-$100B this year, while Bernstein expects flows to cross $10B.
“The ‘mature economy’ is actually embracing bitcoin (BTC-USD) as a full asset,” said Michaël van de Poppe, CEO of crypto consultancy MN Trading. “Expectations are that there is $200B worth of interest coming into the markets from institutional investors and this can have a major impact on BTC’s price.”
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) rose as much as 5% to $48.97K after the ETFs’ market debut on Thursday, its highest level since late 2021, but has since slipped to $45.85K, as of Friday. Ether (ETH-USD) briefly climbed to $2.69K on Thursday, and is now trading at $2.60K.
To note, many on Wall Street believe the investment is too risky for their clients and will not offer them access to trading the ETFs, such as Vanguard, Merrill Lynch, Edward Jones, and Northwestern Mutual.
