According to new research from crypto exchange Binance, retail investors are responsible for most of the demand for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds. Binance analysts in an Oct. 25 research report on crypto ETFs, shared that non-institutional investors accounted for nearly 80% of the total assets under management (AUM) in spot BTC ETFs as of Oct. 10.
In a landmark event for cryptocurrency, spot Bitcoin ETFs were introduced in January 2024 and have attracted $21.6 billion in net inflows over the subsequent 10 months.
Binance analysts also noted that much of the spot Bitcoin ETF’s $63.3 billion accumulated as assets under management since their launch in January was not necessarily fresh investment in the crypto space.
Instead, it appears that a “notable portion” of the buying activity can be traced back to retail investors rotating their holdings from digital wallets and centralized exchanges into the funds.
“Spot ETFs are serving dual roles: not only onboarding new investors but also attracting existing investors who prefer the regulated structure of ETFs over other, more complex options, such as direct on-chain holdings or illiquid, high-fee alternatives like Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust,” wrote Binance.
Ethena’s USDe is to be taken as trading margin by Wintermute
On 25 October, Wintermute, a trading firm said that it is accepting USDe, a cryptocurrency-backed stablecoin, as collateral for spot crypto and derivatives trades.
Wintermute’s clients can now post “USDe as collateral for options, [credit default swaps], forward, and spot trading,” the company said in a post on the X platform.
Wintermute announced that the stablecoin has been added to their list of accepted crypto collateral, which already includes Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), and US Dollar Coin (USDC).
Binance Connect reintroduces a combined crypto-to-fiat service
The Binance Connect service for converting crypto to fiat has been updated and reintroduced. This enhanced service is now seamlessly integrated into the Binance ecosystem, enabling users to switch between fiat and crypto without the need for additional accounts.
The original Binance Connect service closed down in August 2023, reportedly due to an issue with card payment service support.
In a blog post, Binance said, this new Binance Connect supports over 100 fiat currencies, 300 cryptocurrencies and 300 payment methods. Users can buy and sell cryptocurrencies directly from their existing Binance accounts through their DeFi wallets.
