Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based in the United States experienced net inflows of $562 million on March 4th, as the price of BTC surpassed $68,000 and approached its all-time high of around $69,000. This marked the third-largest day of inflows since the ETFs began trading on January 11th.
Despite outflows from smaller players and the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), the March 4th inflows were significant. GBTC saw outflows of $368 million on that day. The iShares Bitcoin Trust from BlackRock recorded the largest inflows of $420 million, followed by Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust with $404 million. The net inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs on that day were ten times the amount of new BTC added to the supply through mining activities.
Trading volume for spot Bitcoin ETFs reached a peak of $5.5 billion on March 4th, making it the second-highest volume day since the products were launched. This high trading volume, along with institutional demand, means that spot Bitcoin ETFs, exchange-traded products, and trackers now handle approximately 1 million BTC, which is about 5.13% of the total BTC circulating supply.
In the two months since their launch, spot Bitcoin ETFs have seen net inflows of $7.5 billion worth of BTC, despite experiencing over $9 billion in outflows. BlackRock’s IBIT has already reached $10 billion in assets under management, while it took nearly two years for gold ETFs to reach that figure.
There may be increased demand for Bitcoin ETFs in the coming days, as BlackRock has filed to purchase BTC for its Strategic Income Opportunities Fund. Additionally, the upcoming Bitcoin halving, scheduled for next month, will reduce the daily supply of new BTC by half. This reduction, combined with current market demand already exceeding new supply by ten times, could potentially act as a catalyst for further increases in the BTC price.