Are ETFs Dominating Bitcoin Trading Volume? The Data Tells a Different Story

Bitcoin ETFs aren't the volume kings you might think—raw data reveals they're playing second fiddle to traditional crypto exchanges.

Spot volumes tell the real story

While Wall Street pats itself on the back for 'adopting crypto,' the actual trading action hasn't shifted to their shiny new ETF wrappers. Daily volumes across major platforms still dwarf what flows through regulated funds—turns out crypto natives prefer trading actual bitcoin, not paper proxies.

Institutional hype meets on-chain reality

The ETF narrative makes for great financial media headlines, but chain analytics don't lie. Real volume moves where real bitcoin changes hands—not where traditional finance slaps its ticker symbols and collects fees. Guess some old habits—like charging 1% for something you can get for 0.1%—die hard.

So next time someone claims ETFs are taking over bitcoin trading? Show them the numbers—not the marketing.

US Bitcoin Spot ETFs Still Account For Just 13% Of Trading Volume

In a new post on X, on-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant has talked about how the US spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) compare to exchanges when it comes to bitcoin trading volume.

Spot ETFs are investment vehicles that allow investors to gain exposure to BTC without having to own it. The ETFs trade on traditional platforms, so investors who aren’t familiar with the digital asset space can easily invest into the coin through them.

The spot ETFs are relatively new to the sector, having received approval from the US SEC at the start of last year. Before the ETFs, investors had to use cryptocurrency exchanges to buy BTC. Unlike with the ETFs, exchanges normally deposit actual tokens to a buyer’s wallet that they can then choose to withdraw into self-custody.

For many traditional investors, though, navigating cryptocurrency wallets and exchanges can feel daunting. ETFs provide a simpler, off-chain route into Bitcoin, making them a direct competitor to exchanges.

Since their inauguration, spot ETFs have quickly gained popularity, but one question arises: how do they stack up against the old exchanges? Below is a chart shared by CryptoQuant that puts into perspective the Bitcoin trading volume of the US spot ETFs compared to the major exchanges.

As displayed in the above graph, the Bitcoin spot ETFs have usually witnessed daily trading volume between $5 billion to $10 billion during the last few months. This is a notable value, but pales in comparison to what cryptocurrency exchanges witness.

Binance, the largest platform in the sector, alone observes up to $18 billion in volume on peak days. In terms of percentage of trading volume occupied since Donald TRUMP became US President, Binance leads the market with a share of 34.69%.

In contrast, the US spot ETFs only hold a Bitcoin volume dominance of 4.53%. Crypto.com (20.11%), Bybit (6.45%), and MEXC (4.62%) are all ahead of them. Based on the data, the analytics firm concludes, “exchanges remain the primary venue for trading.”

A similar picture appears when looking at the spot ETFs for Ethereum, which launched in the US in mid-2024.

From the above chart, it’s visible that Binance has made up for 29.07% of the total ethereum trading volume, far ahead of the 13.08% figure of the US spot ETFs. That said, the gap here is closer than for Bitcoin.

BTC Price

Bitcoin has seen a plunge of around 3% over the past 24 hours that has taken its price to $108,500.