Crypto ETF Trading Volume Drops to Record Low

On August 19, Bitcoin spot ETFs in the United States saw a mere $779.87 million in trading volume, marking a record low since early February. Meanwhile, Ethereum spot ETFs also recorded their worst trading day since their launch.

According to data from SoSoValue, on August 19, the total daily trading volume of Bitcoin spot ETFs reached just $779.87 million, down sharply from $5.24 billion in early August 2024. This is the third time this year that trading volume has hit a low and the worst trading day in more than half a year.

SofAugustine Fan, Head of Research and Analysis at SOFA.org, said:

“The low trading volume is to be expected as market sentiment has remained subdued since the sharp sell-off a few weeks ago. It should also be noted that recent data-driven fears of a recession have investors holding back and waiting for more signals from the Fed’s Jackson Hole meeting later this week.”

In this gloomy trading session, BlackRock’s Bitcoin spot ETF, IBIT, still stood out with inflows of $92.68 million, along with Fidelity’s FBTC fund recording an additional $3.87 million. In contrast, Bitwise’s BITB fund and Invesco’s BTCO both saw outflows of $25.72 million and $8.84 million, respectively. Notably, the remaining eight funds recorded no inflows at all during the trading session on August 19.

BTC price has seen a 4.76% increase in the past 24 hours and is currently hovering around $60,800.

In addition, Ethereum spot ETFs also recorded their lowest daily trading volume since their launch, reaching only about $124 million. In total, nine Ethereum ETFs saw net outflows of up to $13.52 million on August 19, and only Grayscale's ETHE fund recorded outflows of $20.3 million. In contrast, Grayscale's Ethereum mini trust recorded an inflow of $4.92 million, while Bitwise's Ethereum ETF ETHW also added $1.87 million to its fund.

ETH has also seen a slight increase of 3.4% over the past 24 hours, with ETH changing hands at $2,650 at the time of writing,

Amid the ETF gloom, many believe that Bitcoin is still holding steady around $60,000 as fears of a sell-off continue to weigh on prices, despite the positive macro outlook. On the Ethereum side, the coin has continued to disappoint, recording poor performance recently as users increasingly turn to Layer-2 solutions such as Base, Optimism and Arbitrum and are attracted to other blockchains such as Solana or Tron.