Bitcoin ETFs See Significant Growth In First Year
According to Blockworks, it has been nearly a year since US spot bitcoin ETFs were introduced on January 11. Over this period, these financial products have experienced substantial growth, with combined net inflows reaching $34.3 billion, as reported by Farside Investors. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has been a significant contributor, attracting $35 billion, while Fidelity's offering follows with $12.1 billion in inflows.
Since November 6, the bitcoin ETF sector has seen an influx of $10.8 billion in new capital, coinciding with the day Donald Trump was declared the election winner, which some believe reduced the reputational risk associated with cryptocurrencies. The sector has recorded net inflows on 158 out of 231 trading days, or 68% of the time. The highest inflow day was November 7, with nearly $1.4 billion, while the largest outflow of $564 million occurred on May 1, partly due to profit-taking during a BTC price dip.
As of December 10, BlackRock's IBIT held $50.8 billion in assets, surpassing the firm's Gold Trust (IAU) by $17 billion, though still trailing State Street's SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) by $24 billion. IBIT's average daily inflows are $152 million, whereas the WisdomTree Bitcoin Fund (BTCW) sees less than $1 million. Meanwhile, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) has experienced outflows of nearly $21 billion, a trend that was largely anticipated. Grayscale's newer Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC), launched on July 31, has attracted almost $900 million in new investments.
In terms of trading volumes, IBIT averages 44.5 million shares traded daily, valued at approximately $2.6 billion at current prices. This ranks the BlackRock product eighth among all ETFs in terms of shares traded over the past three months, slightly behind the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY). Since the introduction of spot ether ETFs on July 23, bitcoin ETFs have attracted $16.8 billion, significantly outpacing the $1.9 billion net flows into ether ETFs. This represents about 11% of the bitcoin ETF inflows, which is below Bloomberg Intelligence's estimates of 15% to 25%.
Institutional investors, including hedge funds, advisers, and pension funds, have shown interest in these ETFs. Jersey City officials indicated that the city's pension fund plans to invest in bitcoin ETFs this month. Data from Bloomberg Intelligence suggests that bitcoin ETFs now hold more bitcoin than the estimated 1.1 million BTC attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto, accounting for about 5% of the total bitcoin supply. Bitwise executives have predicted that bitcoin ETFs will attract even more inflows next year compared to 2024.
