U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds have began the yr on a robust word, in response to Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.
It has been barely over a yr because the Securities and Trade Fee permitted the launch of spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs for the U.S. market. After attaining report web inflows and property below administration in 2024, spot BTC ETFs have entered 2025 with notable momentum.
In a publish on X on Jan. 24, Balchunas highlighted the spectacular efficiency of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs. Funds reminiscent of BlackRock’s IBIT, Constancy’s FBTC, and Ark/21Shares’ ARKB have seen important inflows yr so far. IBIT recorded web inflows of over $2.3 billion YTD, whereas FBTC attracted over $1.1 billion.
“The spot bitcoin ETFs quietly on hearth to start out the yr, with $4.2b in flows which is 6% of all ETF flows,” he famous.
Since their launch, these ETFs have garnered greater than $40 billion in web inflows, with whole AUM now exceeding $121 billion.
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With a return of roughly 127%, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have now surpassed environmental, social, and governance ETFs in whole property. Main ESG ETFs, reminiscent of Vanguard ESG U.S. Inventory ETF, iShares World Clear Power ETF, and SPDR S&P 500 Fossil Gasoline Reserves Free ETF, collectively maintain about $117 billion in AUM.
Based on Balchunas, web property held in spot Bitcoin ETFs are actually “about the identical as gold spot.”
Whereas BTC ETFs are off to a robust begin this yr, the Ethereum (ETH) market has not seen the identical stage of traction. In the meantime, the crypto market has witnessed a surge of exercise with new altcoin ETF filings, together with ones for Solana, XRP, Litecoin, TRUMP and Dogecoin.
Might these altcoin ETFs pose a risk to U.S. spot Bitcoin funds? Balchunas doesn’t consider so.
“For extra context, Ether ETFs are like +$130m YTD, which isn’t dangerous, however this is the reason BTC is on one other stage and can completely dominate this class. Even when we see like 10 altcoin ETFs roll out, they’ll draw headlines however battle over crumbs (albeit sizable ones) comparatively talking,” he posted on X.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded web inflows of $188 million on Jan. 23, marking the sixth consecutive day of optimistic flows. In 2025 alone, these funds have seen over $1 billion in web inflows on Jan. 17 and greater than $805 million on Jan. 21.
Notably, the slowdown to $188 million got here because the market reacted to former President Trump’s crypto government order.
Learn extra: Bitcoin ETFs face slowdown as Trump’s crypto government order falls brief on BTC-specific strategic reserve