VanEck’s spot Bitcoin ETF, “HODL,” experienced a sudden and unexplained surge in trading volume on February 20, leaving market analysts scratching their heads. The volume jumped to $258 million, a staggering 14 times higher than the previous day, according to data from Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.
This spike wasn’t driven by a single large investor, which would be more usual, but rather by a massive influx of 32,000 individual trades. This represents a staggering 60 times the average number of trades for the HODL ETF.
“Still haven’t figured out what happened,” Balchunas posted on X, highlighting the unusual nature of the event. He speculated that a social media influencer, perhaps on Reddit or TikTok, might have recommended the ETF to their followers, attracting the “retail army.”
Just five days prior, VanEck announced a fee reduction for the HODL ETF, dropping it from 0.25% to 0.20%, undercutting both BlackRock and Fidelity’s offerings. However, with BlackRock also waiving fees on its iShares Bitcoin ETF until it reaches $5 billion in assets under management (AUM), which it achieved on February 15, the timing and reasoning behind the surge remain unclear.
Similar volume spikes were observed in WisdomTree’s Bitcoin Fund (WBTC), with a 1,200% increase to $154 million and approximately 23,000 individual trades compared to its usual 221.