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Bitcoin Passes $57K, BlackRock ETF Trading Volume Surges Past $1.3B
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Bitcoin Passes $57K, BlackRock ETF Trading Volume Surges Past $1.3B

Daniela Kirova
Daniela Kirova
February 28th, 2024
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Bullish sentiment is back in vogue after the price of Bitcoin surged to the highest since its previous all-time high in November 2021. Forbes wrote that the world's flagship crypto benefits from multiple bullish factors.

AltAlpha Digital crypto fund cofounder Marc P. Bernegger summarized this point. He told Forbes via email:

The Bitcoin bulls are back, and the unprecedented combination of Bitcoin ETFs and the next Bitcoin Halving attracts a lot of additional inflows.

Bitcoin is currently trading for more than $57,000, up around 12% in less than 24 hours, additional CoinMarketCap data shows.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs – trading volume as a factor

Bitcoin's upswing continues a trend involving spot Bitcoin ETFs, specifically inflows exceeding outflows from Grayscale, according to Jacob Joseph, research analyst at CCData. He drew attention to the crucial role ETFs granting exposure to Bitcoin are playing in the crypto markets. Joseph also drew attention to other recent developments contributing to the market's positive sentiment, including a series of impressive trading volume days for spot Bitcoin ETFs.

US spot Bitcoin ETFs' trading volume on Tuesday exceeded $2 billion, slightly falling short of the record $2.4 billion recorded on Monday. The biggest winner was BlackRock's ETF, which boasted over $1.3 billion in daily trading volume on Tuesday, propelled by Bitcoin's rally to $57,000 without a doubt.

According to data from Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, BlackRock's IBIT recorded a trading volume of $1.357 billion during the day, topping the previous day's record of $1.3 billion. Nasdaq data showed almost 42 million shares were traded, more than double the average since the beginning of trading this year.

What does volume really mean?

Trading volume often shows positive interest in an investment product, but this metric looks at buy as well as sell orders, making it somewhat ambiguous. The high volume of Monday was certainly typified by heavy inflows. With minor outflows from Grayscale's GBTC, the net inflows were an impressive $520 million. Fidelity had the highest inflows at around $243 million, followed by Ark Invest's ARKB, which drew $130 million.

Bitcoin demand is at a historic peak not only due to the SEC's approval of 11 Bitcoin ETFs but also the upcoming Bitcoin halving. According to experts cited by Forbes Magazine, whale investors are steadily buying up Bitcoin.

MicroStrategy's contribution

MicroStrategy announced an acquisition of an additional 3,000 Bitcoins, which is another factor driving Bitcoin's price. Michael Saylor, a prominent Bitcoin bull, chairs the software company, whose stock is becoming akin to Bitcoin mining stock. MicroStrategy disclosed Bitcoin purchases worth over $150 million. What's more, it's not the only large corporate investor buying Bitcoin at this time. Experts expect even higher Bitcoin growth this year, and the first crypto's momentum is likely to drive other major crypto assets up as well.

Coinbase's price premium

Coinbase features a huge price premium, which suggests increasing demand from US investors. According to Marouane Garcon, cofounder of The Real-World Exchange, a perpetual futures marketplace, a plethora of variables is working in conjunction to push Bitcoin's price up. One such factor is the fact that Blackrock's BTC holdings have passed $7 billion. Another one is countries like South Korea's openness to listing futures and spot Bitcoin ETFs, following the US's lead.

Bitcoin mining

Bitcoin mining is once again making a profit. Historically, halvings are positive for the crypto’s price. Halvings take place roughly once every four years or after mining a set of 210,000 blocks. The mining reward will be cut from 6.25 to 3.125 BTC in the next Bitcoin halving.

Contributors

Daniela Kirova
Writer
Daniela is a writer at Bankless Times, covering the latest news on the cryptocurrency market and blockchain industry. She has over 15 years of experience as a writer, having ghostwritten for several online publications in the financial sector.