BTC surges as BlackRock’s IBIT trades $7.5M shares in first 10 minutes

• Bitcoin (BTC) price surged to above $48,000 again on Thursday as spot Bitcoin ETFs made their market debut following SEC’s approval on January 10, 2024.
• BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF ($IBIT) traded $7.5M shares within the first 10 minutes as spot ETFs roared into the ecosystem.

Bitcoin’s price shot past the $48,000 level on Thursday as the market opened to welcome the first trading day of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US.

The benchmark cryptocurrency’s price was up 8.8% to $48,875 at the time of writing, with a market capitalization of about $950 million. The price surge coincided with a stellar start to Bitcoin ETFs trading as BlackRock’s IBIT recorded an impressive $7.5 million traded shares within the first 10 minutes of going live.

BlackRock’s $IBIT on fire

With 20 minutes in, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas pointed out that volume was “big” and was set to outpace the record the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) set when it went live in October 2021. BlackRock’s IBIT, with over $292 million in shares at the time, was on track to surpass $1 billion, the analyst noted.

Other Bitcoin ETFs, including Grayscale’s GBTC, Ark Invest’s ARKB and Fidelity’s FBTC, were also heating up as trading showed demand could pick up as momentum builds. Balchunas added that “almost all the volume in first few days will convert to inflows.”

Wow, only 20 min into trading and the volume is big with HALF A BILLION traded for the group (ex GBTC too) (outpacing $BITO by a lot) led by $IBIT (which is near lock to pass $1b) and $FBTC. Imp to note almost all the volume in first few days will convert to inflows. pic.twitter.com/LrGxZTFNsG

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) January 11, 2024

“While focus has been on bitcoin, a big takeaway is that ETFs continue to show they can handle just about anything,” the ETF guru noted in an earlier post on X. He explained this with a comparison chart showing the trading profile of spot Bitcoin ETFs in Europe.

“Spreads and prem/disc have tightened,” he wrote, adding that he expected the same outlook in the US over time.

As the ETFs markets heats up on the debut day, the uptick in BTC price has market observers pointing to a potential continuation. With the sell the news idea floated before the approval likely not happening, Bitcoin could retest the $50k level before accumulating at support levels for a new leg.

The upcoming BTC halving is another huge catalyst waiting in the wings, which analysts say could combine with overall bullish sentiment to catapult prices beyond $100k in 2024.