If the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approves a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), the United States could potentially dominate as much as 99.5% of the global cryptocurrency-related ETF trading volume, as suggested by Bloomberg E TF analyst Eric Balchunas.
Currently, North America accounts for approximately 97.7% of all cryptocurrency ETF trading volume globally. However, Balchunas predicts that if the SEC greenlights spot ETFs in the US, this percentage could climb to 99.5%. A number of spot Bitcoin ETF applications are awaiting approval From the SEC, with the decision on Ark Invest and 21Shares' joint ARKB fund expected by August 13, although a delay is anticipated by many.
Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark Invest, speculated in an August 7 interview with Bloomberg that regulators might be holding out to approve multiple funds simultaneously. This sentiment seems to be supported by recent moves by Bitwise and Valkyrie to modify their ETF offerings. Bitwise updated it BITC fund to become the "Bitwise Bitcoin and Ethereum Equal Weight Strategy ETF," and Valkyrie changed its BTC futures ETF (BTF) to include ethereum futures.
Balchunas also highlighted that the top 15 performing exchange-traded funds this year are all related to cryptocurrency and blockchain. Notably, the Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF stood out as the best performer, showing a return of 227% since the beginning of 2023. The VanEck Digital Transformation ETF and the DAPP Fund, tracking cryptocurrency mining and technology companies, also demonstrated strong performance.
Other notable cryptocurrency-related exchange-traded products that performed well include the Global X Blockchain ETF, the Bitwise Crypto Industry Innovators ETF, and Invesco's Alerian Galaxy Crypto Economy ETF. These performances underscore the growing influence and impact of the cryptocurrency sector on traditional financial markets .
