Bitcoin continues to gain traction this year, leading to significant retail activity
Bitcoin spot trading volume recorded its biggest day in over a year on March 5, as centralized exchanges reported a combined daily volume of $46.26 billion, meaning that more retail investors have begun purchasing the cryptocurrency.
After its recent yearly high, Bitcoin spot trading volume fell to $31.32 billion on March 6, with Binance handling $18 billion, over 74% of the daily volume.
“People are buying Bitcoin. Spot trading volume has shot up almost 680% since the start of the year,” according to an X post by Bitwise quantitative research associate Mallika Kollar.
People are buying Bitcoin. Spot trading volume has shot up almost 680% since the start of the year. pic.twitter.com/KlGSa4ZtUG
— Mallika Kolar (@mallikakolar) March 6, 2024
The record volume occurred at the same time as a new all-time high in daily inflows for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The 10 US spot Bitcoin ETFs had a record $10 billion daily trading volume on March 5, surpassing last week’s record of $7.7 billion.
Retail interest has also been increasing in South Korea, where Bitcoin reached as high as $72,000 (at the KRW/USD exchange rate) on March 5 on the country’s biggest crypto exchange, Upbit.
The rising volumes across ETFs and exchanges shot Bitcoin’s price to a new all-time high of over $69,200 on March 5. It rose by 1.09% in the 24 hours before 1:30 PM UTC to trade at $66,878, according to info from CoinMarketCap.
According to Coinglass, the number of addresses holding at least $10 in Bitcoin reached an all-time high of over 35 million on March 6, suggesting an increase in retail investors.
The number of Bitcoin transfers to the largest US exchange, Coinbase, is also nearing its 2022 highs, meaning that investors could begin taking profits at the current price levels.
