GBTC Stock Trading Reaches Peak of 2023
GBTC daily trading volume has officially reached its highest point of the year, propelled by renewed interest following major Wall Street players reapplying for approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs.
GBTC Stock Trading Reaches Peak of 2023
According to data from The Block, shares of the giant Grayscale saw a trading volume of $183 million on July 13th.
Daily trading volume of GBTC from July 2022 to present. Source: The Block
During this period, the price of GBTC has also experienced fluctuations, currently trading around $19.75.
Price volatility of GBTC on a daily chart. Screenshot from TradingView at 12:25 PM on July 17, 2023
The upward momentum began around June 20th, following asset management leader BlackRock's submission of an application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch a Bitcoin ETF. This was followed by similar filings from other major firms including Invesco, VanEck, WisdomTree, Fidelity, and ARK, which were initially rejected by the SEC but subsequently resubmitted.
These developments have helped narrow the gap between GBTC and Bitcoin prices to the lowest levels since May 2022. According to The Block's analysis, the discount tightened from -44% on June 13th to -28% on July 10th.
Price gap between GBTC and BTC from July 2022 to present. Source: The Block
GBTC is an investment product issued by Grayscale, where each share represents a certain amount of Bitcoin held by the company. Specifically, each GBTC share is equivalent to 0.00090435 BTC.
From 2017 to 2020, GBTC consistently traded at a premium to BTC market prices, sometimes exceeding 100%. However, by late last year, amidst market turbulence exacerbated by the FTX crash, the GBTC-BTC spread reached record levels of -50% and has since hovered around -40%.
In reality, Grayscale continues to pursue a lawsuit against the SEC regarding the agency's denial of converting GBTC to an ETF for easier investor access. Commenting last week, a Grayscale lawyer criticized the SEC for granting leverage-based Bitcoin futures ETFs while consistently rejecting spot products.
In a different perspective, former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton suggested that a Bitcoin ETF could become a reality if it demonstrates investor protection measures effectively.
