VanEck's Bitcoin ETF Records 2,200% Volume Surge in a Day

Trading volumes of VanEck’s HODL, one of the ten spot bitcoin {{BTC}} exchange-traded funds in the U.S. (ETF), surged over 2,200% on Tuesday in a move driven by individual traders.

HODL traded over $400 million in volumes on Tuesday, a 22-fold jump over its daily average of $17 million. The figures came ahead of a planned fee cut on Wednesday, when VanEck will reduce its offering fees from 0.25% to 0.20%, as per a filing.

HODL’s volumes were the third-largest after Grayscale’s GBTC and BlockRock’s IBIT, the usual leaders. The ETF now holds nearly $200 million worth of bitcoin as of Feb.20, data shows.

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Eric Balchunas said on X that the volumes came from 32,000 individual trades instead of one big investor – showing signs of a retail mania.

“Given how sudden and explosive the increase in the number of trades was (500 trades Friday, 50,000 trades today), I’m wondering if some Reddit or TikTok influencer type recommended them to their followers,” Balchunas said. “Feels retail army-ish.”

Still haven't figured out what happened. No one knows. Given how sudden and explosive the increase in number of trades was (500 trades Friday, 50,000 trades today) I'm wondering if some Reddit or TikTok influencer type recommended them to their followers. Feels retail army-ish. https://t.co/WazxSSgFjR

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) February 20, 2024

HODL’s unusually large volumes contributed to the bitcoin ETFs posting their highest volume day since going live in January, as reported.