Spot bitcoin ETFs turn one: volumes, leaders and adoption

January 11 marked one year since the start of trading for spot bitcoin ETFs in the United States. Analysts highlighted the segment’s striking growth and forecast even greater institutional interest.

Milestones

According to SoSoValue, since launch 12 issuers have accumulated 1.13 million BTC worth $106.6 billion — 5.4% of the coin’s total supply. Cumulative trading volume for the funds reached $660 billion.

BlackRock, Fidelity and Grayscale led early trading volumes. Grayscale’s tally was driven by the converted GBTC bitcoin trust — a shrinking discount prompted investor selling that outweighed inflows into other funds.

As bitcoin climbed above $100,000 in December, the assets under management (AUM) of all US bitcoin ETFs surpassed those of gold-based products. The precious metal took 20 years to reach $130 billion; the first cryptocurrency needed less than a year.

According to Federico Brocate, head of 21Shares’ US unit, fiscal policy in 2024 helped spur interest in the new instruments.

“The lowering of interest rates by central banks created a favorable macroeconomic environment for bitcoin, attracting capital as financial liquidity increased,” — noted he.

Leaders

GBTC from Grayscale initially led the spot bitcoin ETF segment, having converted from a trust with existing AUM. By the end of May it was overtaken by BlackRock’s IBIT.

The fund still holds the lead with $52.7 billion in assets under management. At launch in January IBIT held 2,621 BTC; it now stands at 557,881 BTC.

Fidelity’s FBTC ranks second by AUM ($19.5 billion), while GBTC has slipped to third with a slight lag ($19.3 billion).

Greg Magadini, director of derivatives at Amberdata, noted that IBIT’s popularity is also evident in the options market.

“Options on IBIT launched in November have already entered the dozen most actively traded assets, ahead of GOOGL and META, and matched AMZN’s volumes,” he added.

According to Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart, four spot bitcoin ETFs — IBIT, FBTC, ARKB and BITB — made the top 20 US ETF launches of all time. BlackRock’s product set a new record for the speed of asset gathering over a year.

Just how big was the first year for Bitcoin ETFs?
MASSIVE

Here’s a list of the largest ETFs 1 year after they launched. Even if you inflation adjust the assets, 4 of the Bitcoin ETFs are in the top 20 US ETF launches of all time. $IBIT, $FBTC, $ARKB, and $BITB pic.twitter.com/MQuf6wp9Fe

— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) January 10, 2025

Bitcoin’s adoption

Bobby Zagotta, head of the US division of crypto exchange Bitstamp, said it is “impossible to underestimate the importance of the moment when the first bitcoin ETF was approved”.

In his view, the move gave the first cryptocurrency two key things. First, exchange-traded funds granted bitcoin “legitimacy” at the regulatory level by recognising it as an asset class.

Second, ETFs provided access to digital gold in a format investors already know.

“People have dealt with exchange-traded funds for a long time; they know how it works. [Buying bitcoin] turned out to be very simple for most market participants, both retail and institutional,” Zagotta explained.

Stephen McClurg, CEO of Canary Capital, noted that the 12‑month mark matters for any ETF because after that investment advisers start considering the product for clients.

However, this does not mean inflows begin immediately; the process may take from six months to two years, McClurg said.

Earlier, CF Benchmarks experts suggested that in 2025 investment advisers would increase their positions in ETFs based on bitcoin and Ethereum by more than 50%.