U.S. Spot Bitcoin ETFs Start 2025 on a High Note

According to Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds have started the year with significant momentum. After achieving record net inflows and assets under management in 2024, these funds have entered 2025 with notable growth.

It has been over a year since the Securities and Exchange Commission approved the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs for the U.S. market. In a recent update, Balchunas highlighted the impressive performance of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, with funds such as BlackRock’s IBIT, Fidelity’s FBTC, and Ark/21Shares’ ARKB seeing significant inflows year to date.

Impressive Inflows and Assets Under Management

IBIT recorded net inflows of over $2.3 billion year to date, while FBTC attracted over $1.1 billion.

“The spot bitcoin ETFs quietly on fire to start the year, with $4.2b in flows which is 6% of all ETF flows,”

noted Balchunas.

Since their launch, these ETFs have garnered more than $40 billion in net inflows, with total assets under management now exceeding $121 billion. This growth has led to U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs surpassing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ETFs in total assets.

Comparison to Other Investment Options

With a return of approximately 127%, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have now surpassed leading ESG ETFs, such as Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF, iShares Global Clean Energy ETF, and SPDR S&P 500 Fossil Fuel Reserves Free ETF, which collectively hold about $117 billion in assets under management. According to Balchunas, net assets held in spot Bitcoin ETFs are now “about the same as gold spot.”

Altcoin ETFs and Their Potential Impact

While BTC ETFs are off to a strong start this year, the Ethereum (ETH) market has not seen the same level of traction. Meanwhile, the crypto market has witnessed a surge of activity with new altcoin ETF filings, including ones for Solana, XRP, Litecoin, and Dogecoin. However, Balchunas doesn’t believe these altcoin ETFs pose a threat to U.S. spot Bitcoin funds.

“For more context, Ether ETFs are like +$130m YTD, which isn’t bad, but this is why BTC is on another level and will utterly dominate this category. Even if we see like 10 altcoin ETFs roll out, they’ll draw headlines but fight over crumbs (albeit sizable ones) relatively speaking,”

he noted.

Recent Market Activity

Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows of $188 million on January 23, marking the sixth consecutive day of positive flows. In 2025 alone, these funds have seen over $1 billion in net inflows on January 17 and more than $805 million on January 21. Notably, the slowdown to $188 million came as the market reacted to former President Trump’s crypto executive order.

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