Why Bitcoin ETFs Are Still Chasing Binance’s Tail-With Extra Drama 🍾

Ask the blockchain and she will reveal: the grand performance of Bitcoin trading is still being staged by exchanges. Binance, that notorious impresario, singlehandedly commands twice the volume of those modest US spot ETFs. Imagine thinking ETFs could steal the spotlight-how terribly nouveau.

The American ETF Affair: Merely 13% of the Show 🎩

The ever-watchful analysts at CryptoQuant have posted on X (because Twitter is so dreadfully 2018) to illuminate a question burning in every financier’s heart: are ETFs sweeping the trading boards, or are they just holding the coats backstage?

Spot ETFs-those dignified investment automata-promise to grant one the aura of Bitcoin investment without the tiresome business of actually owning the thing. ETFs prance about traditional platforms with the elegance of a debutante at her third ball. If the “digital asset space” sounds like a haunted theatre, ETFs are handing out opera glasses at the door.

Fresh-faced as an undergraduate at Oxford, the American ETFs secured their blessing from the SEC only at the start of last year. Prior to this bureaucratic miracle, true believers navigated the wilds of cryptocurrency exchanges, emerging with actual tokens, wallets heavy with digital virtue that could be spirited away to self-custody-that elusive fantasy of libertarians everywhere.

Of course, for traditionalists, wandering the corridors of crypto wallets inspires the same dread as choosing between dinner jackets. ETFs are smoother than good champagne and infinitely less risky.

The upstart ETFs have made quite the splash, but really, how much sea is in their splash? CryptoQuant has furnished a chart (scroll down, darling) that lays bare the uncivil disparity between ETF volume and that of the venerable exchanges.

Behold! The spot ETFs have been huffing along at daily volumes of $5-10 billion. Not a paltry sum, if you’re counting it in fivers stuffed down a velvet sofa. But Binance sweeps in, silk cape billowing, with up to $18 billion on days when traders are feeling frisky. Binance, apparently auditioning for the role of Bitcoin’s undisputed lead, captures a plump 34.69% since the Age of Trump. 🎷

The American spot ETFs, meanwhile, command a sullen 4.53%-applauded politely as they trail behind Crypto.com (20.11%), Bybit (6.45%), and MEXC (4.62%). CryptoQuant solemnly observes, “exchanges remain the primary venue for trading,” a conclusion so obvious even a tea leaf reader would be unmoved.

The same tragicomedy unfolds for Ethereum, whose ETFs debuted in the US in mid-2024. The cast and choreography remain much the same.

From the graph above, Binance still pirouettes ahead with 29.07% of Ethereum volume, while US spot ETFs clutch a modest 13.08%-a dance closer in step but still yards apart. Binance’s dominance persists, a majestic opera diva refusing to cede the stage.

The Price of Illusion

Bitcoin, ever the drama queen, has tumbled approximately 3% in the past day, nestling at $108,500. It’s almost as if the price is staging its own Wildean comedy-full of exquisite falls and delicious irony.

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2025-08-30 06:14