The volume of trading in spot bitcoin ETFs has reached $11 billion, however, there is a gradual slowdown in the rate of inflow of funds into these products. Experts' opinions on the risks and opportunities associated with exchange-traded funds for bitcoin differ.

The combined trading volume of 11 spot bitcoin ETFs in the United States reached $11.1 billion in the first four days after their launch, according to a report from The Block. Fund groups from Grayscale, BlackRock and Fidelity dominate this segment, accounting for more than 90% of the total volume.

The funds of these companies received SEC approval to launch exchange-traded funds related to the price of spot bitcoin on January 10. The very next day after that, investment instruments began trading on the Cboe, NYSE and Nasdaq exchanges.

The volume of trading in products amounted to $4.6 billion on January 11, but then fell to $3 billion, and then continued to decline in the following days — to $1.8 billion on Tuesday and $1.5 billion on Wednesday.

Eric Balchunas of Bloomberg noted that the net inflow of funds into bitcoin ETFs amounted to more than $782 million by Tuesday. The new products fully offset the outflow of $1.1 billion from the Grayscale fund, which converted its existing trust with an AUM of over $29 billion into an exchange-traded fund.

On January 17, inflows for 10 providers (excluding Grayscale and ProShares) reached $932 million, with BlackRock and Fidelity leading the way with $373 million and $359 million, respectively, according to BitMEX Research experts.

Experts estimated that the launch of spot bitcoin ETFs helped bring the weekly inflow of investments in crypto products closer to the historical maximum, which amounted to $1.19 billion from January 6 to January 12. This figure is close to the record of $1.5 billion set at the launch of bitcoin futures funds in October 2021.

Despite certain risks associated with exchange-traded bitcoin funds, experts generally positively assess their impact on the price of bitcoin. The cryptocurrency quotes temporarily rose above $48,000 after the launch of the products, but then returned to the level of about $42,700. In the long term, many commentators predict a rise in the price of bitcoin, including estimates from $150,000 to $500,000, taking into account factors such as spot ETFs and halving, which is expected in the spring of 2024. However, there are certain risks, including possible attempts by institutional players to make changes to the cryptocurrency market through exchange-traded funds.