Bitcoin and ether ETFs approved in January and July respectively, played a vital role in the industry’s record-breaking year.
Crypto Helps Propel ETF Industry to Record $1 Trillion in 2024 Inflows
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Crypto Gives ETF Industry a Second Wind
Global exchange-traded funds (ETFs) averaged $4 billion in daily inflows and closed out with a record-breaking total of $1 trillion in annual inflows for 2024, according to reporting from Opening Bell Daily.
The landmark performance was due to multiple ETF launches this year – 666 new ETF products in total, record inflows, and the introduction of spot bitcoin ( BTC) and ether ( ETH) ETFs in the U.S.
While crypto ETFs certainly aren’t the largest funds and didn’t have the highest inflows, the mere hype around the approval of both bitcoin and ether ETFs appears to have helped buoy the industry in a manner that has never been witnessed before.
According to Opening Bell Daily, “three-decade old products typically do not see numbers like that.”
Sure, there were other prominent non- crypto ETF launches that helped – Boston-based investment firm Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo (GMO) launched a highly anticipated fund, so did Blackrock’s bond expert Rick Rieder with his Blackrock Total Return ETF (BRTR). But many experts would be hard-pressed to find a better Cinderella story for the industry this year than the historic approval of the first ever U.S. spot bitcoin ETF in January.
“ Bitcoin ETFs broke every conceivable record out there,” said Bloomberg ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas in an interview. “They are already at 1.1 million bitcoin held.”
Blackrock’s Ishares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) is easily the most successful of the spot bitcoin ETF cohort. IBIT has amassed a surreal $54 billion in assets and currently holds nearly 531,000 BTC which represents more than 2.5% of the entire supply.
The fund crossed the $50 billion threshold in a record 227 days – a feat that normally takes about four to five years, according to Balchunas.
All spot bitcoin ETFs currently have just under $114 billion in assets while ether ETFs have a little more than $13 billion.
