Around 80% of demand for the spot Bitcoin ETFs came from retail, but industry analysts expect institutions to pick up the pace in 2025.
United States spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds racked up a staggering $35.66 billion in net inflows in 2024 — far exceeding early industry estimates, while the spot Ether ETFs finished strong, seeing net inflows of $349.3 million in the last four trading days to reach $2.68 billion since launch.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) led the pack with $37.31 billion in net inflows, while the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) and the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) rounded out the top three with $11.84 billion and $2.49 billion, followed by Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) $2.19 billion, according to Farside Investors.
These net inflows smashed an earlier $14 billion first-year estimate from Galaxy Digital’s research head Alex Thorn.
However, the spot Bitcoin ETFs didn’t finish too strong toward the year’s end, seeing a combined $1.33 billion in outflows since Dec. 19.
Five of the last six trading days were net outflows, with IBIT seeing its largest outflow of $188.7 million on Dec. 24.
An Oct. 25 report from cryptocurrency exchange Binance found that nearly 80% of demand for the spot Bitcoin ETFs had come from retail, not institutions.
However, industry analysts such as Bitwise’s chief investment officer Matt Hougan expect to see more institutional involvement in 2025 when more clearinghouses for spot Bitcoin ETF trading come online.
It is one of the catalysts behind Bitwise’s bullish $200,000 Bitcoin price estimate for 2025, while VanEck expects Bitcoin to top $180,000.
Ether ETFs end on a strong note
The spot Ether ETH$3,360.57 ETFs closed 2024 with a total of $2.68 billion in net inflows since the Ethereum products launched on July 23, according to Farside Investors.
Excluding outflows from the converted Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHE) would bump that figure up to $6.29 billion.
BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) and the Fidelity Ethereum Fund (FETH) lead net inflows at $3.52 billion and $1.56 billion.
The low-fee Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF (ETH) finished with the third most net inflows at $608.1 million, while the Bitwise Ethereum ETF (ETHW) recently passed the $400 million milestone.
While ETH has underperformed Bitcoin and Solana SOL$187.65 in 2024, Bitwise expects it to bounce back in 2025 and hit a high of $7,000.
Hougan and Bitwise’s Bitcoin research head Ryan Rasmussen attributed the estimated rise to increased activity on Ethereum layer 2s, more spot Ether ETF flows and “massive growth” in stablecoins and real-world asset tokenization.
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