BlackRock Takes on Binance as Bitcoin Trading Shifts to ETFs

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), launched in January 2024, now records between $16 billion and $18 billion in daily trading volume.

According to a report from analytics firm Kaiko, this is “nearly matching Binance’s spot volumes.” This indicates that investors are adopting Bitcoin more than retail traders, and they are using regulated funds instead of cryptocurrency exchanges to trade Bitcoin. 

https://twitter.com/KaikoData/status/2038645053963264405?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener

U.S. trading hours take the lead

This shift aligns with the changes in the overall Bitcoin market. Kaiko reported that the U.S. trading session now makes up about 47% of the global Bitcoin spot volume, which was up 38% before the first ETFs started trading in 2024.

At the same time, volume from the Asia-Pacific regions has dropped from 29.6% to 22.6%, and European sessions have also fallen slightly from 32% to about 30.5%. Together, this is over $50 billion in monthly trading volume moving toward U.S. market hours on platforms including Binance, Bybit, and Coinbase.

Market depth, which measures the amount of Bitcoin available to buy or sell at stable prices, also increased. From 2021 through 2023, average depth stagnated between $12 million and $15 million. 

After the introduction of ETFs, depth went up to $25 million–$35 million in 2025 and occasionally spiked above $40 million. This indicates that trading became more liquid and easier for investors to execute for large transactions without causing big price changes.

BlackRock ETF reaches $52 billion in total assets

As of today, BlackRock’s IBIT manages about $52 billion in assets, according to data from SosoValue. Together with Fidelity’s FBTC and Grayscale’s GBTC, the top three U.S. Bitcoin ETFs control over $73 billion, which is about 81% of all Bitcoin ETF assets.

Despite this increase, Bitcoin ETFs had net outflows of $496.5 million in the first three months of 2026. Most of this happened in January and February, as Bitcoin’s price dropped 23.8% to below $70K.

In March, funds recorded $1.32 billion in inflows, ending the month without any gains. According to Kaiko, ETF flows correlate with Bitcoin price changes, meaning large purchases or sales by the ETFs can influence the market.

Before ETFs, Bitcoin trading was spread evenly across time zones. Now, the U.S. trading hours dominate the market because ETFs only trade during stock market hours. This has shifted global liquidity and created clear patterns for institutional investors.

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