Bitcoin's reputation, at least in the mainstream, is nearly synonymous with volatility. However, the cryptocurrency's once-wild weekends may be a thing of the past, as in 2024, trading volume on weekends has sunk to its lowest level in bitcoin's history.
The report identifies several factors contributing to the decline, including the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs. While crypto markets are available around the world at any time, ETF trading only happens while the stock market is open during the week. In the fourth quarter of 2023, when these products launched, Kaiko researchers observed that the proportion of bitcoin being traded during the last hour of market trading, known as the benchmark fixing window, increased.
However, weekend trading has been falling consistently since 2021 and that metric is currently at its lowest historical level. While 6.6% of trading happens during the benchmark window on the weekdays, that share falls to just over 4% during the weekends.