Bitcoin (BTC) Price Collapses. Is ETF Hype Over?

The price of Bitcoin has plummeted by over 7%, reaching an intraday low of $45,644 on the Bitstamp exchange. 

This significant drop follows a period of heightened excitement, during which Bitcoin surged to $49,048 — its highest level since early January. 

The decline comes unexpectedly amid the fervor surrounding the recent approval of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), challenging the market’s previous optimism.

Massive trading volumes 

The cryptocurrency market often reacts vividly to news events, and the recent Bitcoin ETF approvals are no exception. Notably, the newly launched spot Bitcoin ETFs have experienced massive demand, with a combined trading volume of $1.3 billion. 

This figure swells to $3.5 billion when including the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) and the Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO).

At first, it seemed like the ETF approval wasn’t a sell-the-news event, but the largest cryptocurrency then registered a dramatic downturn.     

Eric Balchunas, a noted industry expert, commented on the situation: “Ok the news sellers seemed to have woken up… not sure if that’s all of what this is though, there’s likely a lot of cross-currents right now with all these launches and market makers.”

Vanguard snubs Bitcoin ETFs

Amid this tumultuous period, Vanguard, a major investment management company, has taken a strikingly different approach by banning all Bitcoin ETFs from their platform. 

Reports indicate that Vanguard is blocking customer access to these SEC-approved ETFs, limiting transactions to only selling existing holdings. 

This decision aligns with Vanguard’s conservative investment philosophy. The snub might have contributed to the price drop.