The first U.S. ETFs that directly hold bitcoin are off to a strong start, with billions of dollars changing hands in a historical first day of trading for the long-sought investment vehicles.
Over $3.5 billion shares have traded between the 11 U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds as of 1 p.m. in New York on Thursday.
The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, which converted into an ETF, has seen about $1.7 billion in volume, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Meantime, BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust — IBIT — has seen over $880 million change hands.
"This is definitely ground-breaking," said Athanasios Psarofagis, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. "There was no doubt demand would be strong for these ETFs, but the numbers across the board are impressive."
Still, it's hard to compare Thursday's activity to any other day in ETF history. Typically, only one fund that tracks a new asset class begins trading on a single day.
It's unprecedented to see over 10 nearly identical funds all begin at once. But even singling in on one ETF indicates the sheer magnitude of trading.
