Spot Bitcoin ETFs Reach $100 Billion in Assets Under Management
US spot Bitcoin ETFs have reached a significant milestone of $100 billion in assets under management, driven by strong inflows and a recent Bitcoin price appreciation to $98,000. Bloomberg's senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas reported that total assets under management for Bitcoin ETFs have surged to approximately $104 billion following an overnight price increase.
Total inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs are nearing $30 billion, reflecting substantial investor interest. Bitcoin ETFs are now 97% of the way to surpassing Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous Bitcoin creator, as the largest Bitcoin holder.
Additionally, Bitcoin ETFs are 82% towards overtaking gold ETFs, which currently stand at $127 billion in total assets, indicating Bitcoin's increasing status as a store of value. Amid Bitcoin's rise toward the $100K level, inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs have surged recently, exceeding $700 million each day for two consecutive days.
BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has captured a significant portion of these inflows, accumulating over $30 billion since its launch, nearly three times more than its main competitor, Fidelity FBTC.
Bitcoin ETF Options Activity
The first day of options trading for BlackRock’s IBIT saw substantial activity, generating nearly $1.9 billion in notional exposure through 354,000 contracts. Of these, 289,000 were call options, resulting in a bullish call-to-put ratio of 4.4:1. This trading activity coincided with Bitcoin reaching new all-time highs.
Options trading for spot Bitcoin ETFs was heavily weighted toward IBIT, which accounted for 97% of the total volume. Analyst James Seyffart anticipates that this imbalance will stabilize as arbitrageurs and quantitative traders become more involved.
The spot #bitcoin ETF options volume breakdown yesterday was HEAVILY tilted towards $IBIT. Ironically IBIT traded almost the same as its first day right around $1.9 billion in notional exposure but it took 97% of the volume. Hopefully this evens out a bit with arbs/quants etc pic.twitter.com/OtNSGLVbRn
— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) November 21, 2024
As Bitcoin approaches the $100K mark, analysts predict continued upward momentum, supported by a substantial influx of stablecoins into the market. Market forecasts suggest a potential rally to $130K, which could enable Bitcoin ETFs to surpass gold ETFs in total assets.