Bitcoin explodes above $49,000 as ETFs raise $1.7 billion after launch

Bitcoin (BTC) ripped to another multi-year high of $49,000 in an hour on Thursday as the first US bitcoin spot ETFs went live on public markets.

Between all 11 fund providers, Bitcoin ETFs have invested a combined $1.7 billion, according to Yahoo Finance data.

According to Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seifert, the grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) led the pack in terms of volume, trading just under $446 million 30 minutes after the market opened. Meanwhile, BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) raised $388 million in volume, making it the best-performing new fund so far. Fidelity's Fund (FBTC) proved to be the next most popular by collecting $230 million, followed by Ark Invest / 21Shares' Fund (ARKB), which was sold at $82 million. Cumulative flows outpaced BITO, a 2021-approved Bitcoin Futures ETF that reached $2 billion in AUM on Wednesday after the spot's ETF counterparts were green-lit. “There's no way to know how much will flow out of this,” Seifert said, predicting that a “significant portion” of the vote could be newly added money. In contrast, Seifert predicted that most of the GBTC volume is on the way out. The asset manager's annual management fee for the Bitcoin ETF is significantly higher than competitors' annual management fees of 1.5%, which may encourage some investors to switch to newer, cheaper competitors with lower fees of 0.5%. Bitcoin rose to $49,007 within minutes of the launch before recovering to $47,800 at the time of writing.