BlackRock Surpasses Robinhood in Dominance Among Spot Bitcoin ETFs

BlackRock’s spot bitcoin ETF has emerged as the most popular among the 11 new funds available on Robinhood in terms of trading volume, according to Steve Quirk, the company’s chief brokerage officer, as reported by The Block.

BlackRock Surpasses Robinhood in Dominance Among Spot Bitcoin ETFs

“In terms of volume, the BlackRock one has been the most traded from our perspective, with Grayscale right behind it,” he mentioned in an interview.

Quirk further elaborated, stating, “It’s essentially our customers expressing their desire for a cost-effective way to include this as a component of our portfolio,” and he added, “Grayscale is experiencing selling pressure and continues to do so, whereas the other ones are predominantly being bought.”

Quirk noted that among Robinhood users opting to buy spot bitcoin ETFs, approximately one-third of these customers did so after selling a portion of their existing portfolio.

“Out of all the individuals engaging in the trading of these 11 [spot bitcoin ETFs], 33% of them sold a part of their portfolio — meaning they divested some equity — and subsequently purchased these [ETFs]. Essentially, they integrated these into their investment portfolio.”

Trading volume

While BlackRock’s new ETF is generating more volume on Robinhood, in the broader market, Grayscale has seen the most activity among spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds currently trading. A large portion of Grayscale’s volume has been generated by outflows, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

The firm’s spot bitcoin ETF is a conversion of its flagship GBTC fund and charges a higher fee than some of its competitors. It’s also much larger in terms of assets under management, and investors who had wanted to sell before the ETF conversion faced a hefty discount.