BlackRock’s IBIT ETF posted $3.7 billion in volume

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) ETF volume spiked beyond $3.7 billion, surpassing major ETFs such as Vanguard, which is followed by the S&P 500 (VOO).

The surge in IBIT ETF trading volume triggered a rebound in the Bitcoin price, which recorded a more than 6% increase over the past 24 hours after a sharp decline earlier this week.

According to on-chain data provided by Barchart, IBIT generated $3.7 billion in trading volume, outpacing the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO), which recorded $3.28 billion, placing IBIT among the most actively traded ETFs across the U.S. ETF market.

The shift in price followed the Monday announcement, when Vanguard revealed that it would begin allowing Bitcoin ETFs and crypto mutual funds to trade on its brokerage platform.

Bitcoin rebounds above $93,000, marking 7% increase over 24 hours

BlackRock’s IBIT ETF has accumulated more than $66.2 billion in total so far, representing a 3.88% share of BTC, according to on-chain data delivered by SoSoValue. The ETF has, however, recorded a net outflow of $65.92 million in December alone, adding on $2.34 billion withdrawn in November. To date, BlackRock manages over 1,400 ETFs, with assets under management exceeding $13.4 trillion. 

As part of the surge in IBIT’s trading volume increase, Bitcoin rebounded yesterday, recording a roughly 7% increase in price over the past 24 hours.

At the time of publication, BTC was trading at $93,040. Ether, XRP, and Dogecoin also gained roughly 7% during the same period. Cardano’s ADA, one of the primary cap tokens, increased by 14% as well as Chainlink’s LINK, which recorded an 11% increase. 

According to a report by Cryptopolitan, Vanguard Group, the world’s second-largest asset manager, announced on Monday that it will expand its scope into the crypto industry, enabling the trading of mutual funds and ETFs that invest in cryptocurrencies.

The asset manager clarified that it would enable its users to trade ETFs and mutual funds that focus on Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, and Solana. 

Andrew Kadjeski, head of brokerage and investments at Vanguard, said that they conducted a test on crypto ETFs and mutual funds, which delivered results that showed they functioned as intended, as investors found it easy to buy and sell them. Meanwhile, Vanguard’s asset base exceeds $11 trillion and is accessible to over 50 million brokerage clients. 

BTC miners suffer stock decline despite broader crypto ecosystem rebound

In contrast to the growth momentum of crypto ETFs like IBIT, Bitcoin mining stocks have maintained a declining trend, which has persisted despite broader market recoveries.

Iren’s stock dropped approximately 15% over the past 24 hours, marking one of the most significant declines among publicly traded miners. Cipher mining, on the other hand, fell by approximately 10% and TeraWulf declined by approximately 7%. 

The drop in mining stocks has been primarily attributed to the BTC halving in mid-last year, which reduced the reward to 3.125, creating a challenging mining environment for miners. Hashrate value raised operational costs, increased mining competition, and increased energy consumption.

According to Hashrate Index data, BTC mining hash price has declined to roughly $39 per petahash per second (PH/s), which determines the expected daily revenue earned per unit of computational power. The unit helps miners to measure their profitability. So far, the unit has dropped by more than 30% from roughly $62 in July. 

MicroStrategy stock rose by approximately 6% on NASDAQ yesterday, with its current holdings standing at 650,000 BTC.

The Robinhood trading platform, which offers both stock and access to several crypto asset trading options, recorded a 2% increase over the past 24 hours, reflecting a shift in equities linked to crypto assets.  Circle gained 4%, as did Bullish, CoinDesk’s parent company, which recorded an approximately 5% increase. 

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