IBIT dominates Bitcoin ETF dollar volume

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust has widened its lead over rival U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in both cash trading and options activity. Yahoo Finance said in a May 22 analysis that IBIT traded nearly three times as much dollar volume as all other spot Bitcoin ETFs combined. The same report said IBIT’s options market held 6.5 million contracts in open interest that day, far ahead of Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund and Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. IBIT closed at $42.96 on May 22, with 29.6 million shares traded, according to Yahoo Finance. ### How far ahead was IBIT on May 22? Yahoo Finance said on May 22 that IBIT handled nearly three times the dollar volume of all other spot Bitcoin ETFs combined. The comparison matters because U.S. investors now have multiple spot Bitcoin funds with similar underlying exposure, making trading depth and execution costs a key differentiator. BlackRock’s fund was also the largest by assets among the group in Yahoo Finance’s April 20 review of the sector, which said IBIT had about $55 billion in assets under management. (finance.yahoo.com) That earlier Yahoo Finance report described IBIT as the most popular spot Bitcoin ETF since its January 2024 launch. ### What did Yahoo report about the options market? Yahoo Finance said IBIT’s options market held 6.5 million contracts in open interest on May 22. (finance.yahoo.com) The report said that was about 61 times the level of Fidelity’s FBTC and 150 times the level of Grayscale’s GBTC. Yahoo Finance’s IBIT options page showed active contracts across near-dated expirations as of May 22, with open interest spread across calls and puts at multiple strike prices. (finance.yahoo.com) The page lists contract-by-contract open interest rather than a headline total, but it confirms a deep listed-options market in the fund. ### Why does that gap matter for traders choosing between Bitcoin ETFs? Yahoo Finance framed the difference around liquidity. (finance.yahoo.com) In a market where several funds track the same asset, heavier trading volume can make it easier for investors to enter and exit positions and can support tighter bid-ask spreads, particularly for large orders. A separate Yahoo Finance item published six months earlier also pointed to IBIT leading a record week for spot Bitcoin ETF trading volume. (finance.yahoo.com) That report said U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs saw $40 billion in trading volume during the week it covered, with IBIT leading the group. ### How does IBIT compare with earlier reports on its options dominance? Yahoo Finance reported seven months ago that IBIT’s options market was already outpacing rivals by a wide margin. (finance.yahoo.com) That earlier item said Fidelity’s FBTC, the second-largest ETF at the time by that measure, was about 25 times smaller than IBIT in options open interest, at around $1.3 billion. (finance.yahoo.com) Nasdaq ISE separately filed five months ago to raise position limits for IBIT options, arguing that the fund’s market capitalization, average daily volume and liquidity were comparable to ETFs already eligible for the top tier. The filing underscored how quickly listed-options activity in IBIT had grown. ### Where can investors check the next update? Yahoo Finance’s May 22 article remains the cited comparison for the latest cross-fund volume and open-interest rankings. (finance.yahoo.com) IBIT’s quote page and options chain on Yahoo Finance will show the next trading session’s updated share volume, price and contract-level open interest when U.S. markets reopen after May 23. (finance.yahoo.com 1) (finance.yahoo.com 2)