A neon sign for Bitcoin in the Paralelni Polis project, an organisation combining art, social sciences and modern technology, in Prague, Czech Republic, on Friday, 25 January 2024. (Photo: Milan Jaros/Bloomberg) The ETFs are shifting the center of gravity for Bitcoin trading toward the US, and encouraging leveraged bets that lifted the cost of bullish wagers via perpetual futures to levels last seen in 2021.
“The supply-demand imbalance here is really profound,” CoinShares adviser Meltem Demirors said on Bloomberg Television.
Read more: How Spot Bitcoin ETFs Became Big Win for Wall Street: QuickTake
Bitcoin has rallied for six straight days, sending the original cryptocurrency up 23% during that period alone. It traded at $62,597 at 8:03 a.m. Thursday in New York after almost reaching $64,000 on Wednesday.
The charts below show how the impact of the ETFs is filtering across markets.
In the Lead
Bitcoin’s rally since the turn of the year has topped stocks, extending a pattern seen in 2023. The momentum is attracting traders hunting for volatility.
US Pull
The new ETFs calculate their net asset value against dedicated benchmarks at the US close each weekday, a process that helps with Bitcoin price discovery. Trading volumes in the token are now jumping around that time.
ETF Frenzy
Overall trading volume in the spot Bitcoin ETFs — including products from titans BlackRock Inc. and Fidelity Investments — increased sharply to almost $8 billion on Wednesday as the token made a run toward a record.
Spot Market
Meanwhile, the value of Bitcoin changing hands on major digital-asset exchanges on Wednesday was almost the highest for 2024 so far.
Futures Bets
The funding rate for Bitcoin perpetual futures — which are popular with crypto speculators as they have no set expiry — is the highest since 2021. That indicates traders are rushing to bet on gains, and are prepared to pay funds to speculators who are short as a cost of maintaining their positions.