Unmute# Uptober Forming Amid Rising Stablecoin Liquidity and Bitcoin Transactions
The largest cryptocurrency by market value climbed more than 9% to hit a record $76,481, CoinDesk Indices data show. It hit 9.7% at the end of February, during a rally that took it to the previous high in March, gained 10% after dropping from that high and added 12% after the Aug. 5 yen carry trade unwind.
While Wednesday’s swing may concern investors who think the gain is unsustainable, earlier research indicated BTC could rise 11% on a Trump victory.
The rally coincided with massive inflows into spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which added a net $621.9 million, according to Farside data. The flow, one of the highest figures since the products’ introduction in January, snapped a three-day streak of outflows. Total net inflows have now reached $24.2 billion.
Among notable performances, Grayscale’s Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC) registered $108.8 million, its second-biggest day since the start of trading. Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) saw a $100.9 million inflow, also one of its biggest net inflow days.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), in contrast, posted a second-straight day of net outflows, losing a total of $113.3 million over the period. Trading volume in the ETF was at a record level, according to Senior Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.
“IBIT just had its biggest volume day ever with $4.1b traded,” Balchunas wrote. “That’s more volume than stocks like Berkshire, Netflix, or Visa saw today. It was also up 10%, its second-best day since launching, some of this will convert into inflows”.
Overall, “the group of bitcoin ETFs did $6b, their best day since the crazy early days. Most of the ETFs did 2x their average. It was just an all-around banger day for an infant category that never ceases to amaze,” he wrote.
To provide some historical context, ETF trade volume reached a $9.9 billion peak during the March bull run, according to data from checkonchain. Total trade volume on Nov. 6 reached approximately $76 billion, comprising futures volume of $62 billion, spot volume of $8 billion and ETF trade volume of $6 billion, so ETF trade volume is still a small percentage of the total.
Bitcoin: Futures vs Spot vs ETF Trade Volume (checkonchain)Ether (ETH) is lagging behind bitcoin’s 2024 performance. Net inflows into ether U.S. spot ETFs totaled $52.3 million, the most since Sept. 27, according to Farside data.
As of press time, bitcoin is trading at just over $75,000, up 77% year-to-date, while ether is trading at $2,822, up 20% year-to-date.
Edited by Sheldon Reback.