On February 28, spot trading volumes for Bitcoin (BTC) on centralized exchanges (CEXs) reached a staggering 16-month peak, totaling $34 billion in cumulative trades, according to data from Kaiko. Binance led the charge in BTC trading, recording over $17 billion in trading volume, while Bybit followed with $3.5 billion. However, Coinbase faced technical difficulties as it grappled with a surge in traffic, reaching nearly $3 billion in trading volume. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong acknowledged the platform’s preparations for increased traffic but found them insufficient to meet the overwhelming demand for the top cryptocurrency.
OKX and Kraken were also significant players, collectively contributing almost $4 billion to Bitcoin spot trading as BTC experienced a surge of over 10%, reaching beyond $64,000 before retracing to approximately $62,000 at the time of reporting.
In parallel, traders demonstrated a strong interest in crypto derivatives, with Bitcoin derivatives amassing an impressive $182 billion in trading volume within the past 24 hours. This constituted 94% of the total $358 billion traded across crypto derivatives, encompassing futures, perpetual contracts, and options. Notably, the total notional options open interest hit an all-time high of $26 billion on Deribit, underscoring the substantial demand for digital asset derivatives.
The momentum extended to spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), with BlackRock leading the way. Nine of these products recorded $673 million in total daily net inflows, with BlackRock setting a new historical high of $612 million for a single day, as reported by SoSoValue.
In contrast, Grayscale experienced $216 million in outflows, primarily attributed to the ongoing daily exits from the converted GBTC ETF. Despite the outflows, investors have collectively traded over $7 billion in spot Bitcoin ETFs in less than two months, highlighting the sustained interest in this investment avenue.
