BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) ETF has seen its trading volume surge beyond $3.7 billion, outperforming major ETFs such as Vanguard's S&P 500 ETF (VOO).
This significant increase in IBIT ETF trading volume has coincided with a rebound in the Bitcoin price, which experienced a more than 6% increase over the past 24 hours following a sharp decline earlier in the week.
According to on-chain data from Barchart, IBIT generated $3.7 billion in trading volume, surpassing the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO), which recorded $3.28 billion. This positions IBIT as one of the most actively traded ETFs in the U.S. ETF market.
The shift in market dynamics followed an announcement on Monday, where Vanguard revealed its intention to allow Bitcoin ETFs and cryptocurrency mutual funds to be traded on its brokerage platform.
Bitcoin Rebounds Above $93,000, Marking 7% Increase Over 24 Hours
BlackRock’s IBIT ETF has accumulated a total of over $66.2 billion, representing a 3.88% share of Bitcoin, according to data from SoSoValue. Despite this accumulation, the ETF recorded a net outflow of $65.92 million in December and an additional $2.34 billion withdrawn in November. BlackRock currently manages over 1,400 ETFs with assets under management exceeding $13.4 trillion.
As a consequence of the increased trading volume in IBIT, Bitcoin experienced a price rebound yesterday, recording an approximate 7% increase in value over the preceding 24 hours.
At the time of publication, Bitcoin was trading at $93,040. Other major cryptocurrencies also saw gains during the same period; Ether, XRP, and Dogecoin each increased by approximately 7%. Cardano's ADA experienced a 14% rise, and Chainlink's LINK recorded an 11% increase.
A report by Cryptopolitan indicates that Vanguard Group, the world's second-largest asset manager, announced on Monday its expansion into the crypto industry by enabling the trading of mutual funds and ETFs that invest in cryptocurrencies.
Vanguard clarified that its users would be able to trade ETFs and mutual funds focusing on Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, and Solana.
Andrew Kadjeski, head of brokerage and investments at Vanguard, stated that the firm conducted tests on crypto ETFs and mutual funds, which yielded positive results, demonstrating their intended functionality and ease of trading for investors. Vanguard's asset base exceeds $11 trillion and is accessible to over 50 million brokerage clients.
BTC Miners Suffer Stock Decline Despite Broader Crypto Ecosystem Rebound
In contrast to the upward momentum of crypto ETFs like IBIT, Bitcoin mining stocks have continued on a declining trend, persisting even amidst broader market recoveries.
Iren’s stock dropped approximately 15% over the past 24 hours, marking one of the most significant declines among publicly traded miners. Cipher Mining experienced a fall of approximately 10%, and TeraWulf declined by roughly 7%.
The decrease in mining stocks is largely attributed to the Bitcoin halving event in mid-last year, which reduced miner rewards to 3.125 BTC. This reduction has created a challenging operational environment for miners, with increased hashrate values leading to higher operational costs, intensified competition, and greater energy consumption.
According to data from Hashrate Index, the Bitcoin mining hash price has decreased to approximately $39 per petahash per second (PH/s). This metric represents the expected daily revenue earned per unit of computational power and is used by miners to gauge profitability. The hash price has fallen by more than 30% from approximately $62 in July.
MicroStrategy stock rose by approximately 6% on NASDAQ yesterday. The company currently holds 650,000 BTC.
The Robinhood trading platform, which offers both stock and cryptocurrency trading options, recorded a 2% increase over the past 24 hours, reflecting a positive shift in equities linked to crypto assets. Circle gained 4%, and Bullish, CoinDesk's parent company, saw an approximately 5% increase.