Spot bitcoin ETFs, available on the market for lower than a yr, are on the cusp of overtaking gold exchange-traded funds by way of assets held as investors bet billions on bitcoin’s surging price.
The 36 spot bitcoin ETFs tracked by etf.com hold around $120.5 billion while gold ETFs hold $125.7 billion, as of market close on Dec. 17.
Investors have poured $60 billion into spot bitcoin ETFs since their Jan. 11 debut, with huge flows following the Nov. 5 election of crypto-friendly Donald Trump. Bitcoin itself has greater than doubled this yr, pushing the values of those funds higher.
At the identical time, greater than $1 billion has been pulled from gold ETFs this yr, at the same time as the costs of those funds have gained. For instance, the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) has risen 28% to date this yr, while $824 million has been pulled from the fund. That fund, which began trading in 2004, is larger than any of the bitcoin ETFs.
Still, the expansion rate of the biggest spot bitcoin ETF far outpaces that of gold. The iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), with $54.8 billion in assets, has pulled in $42.5 billion while greater than doubling in price.
Bitcoin and other crypto ETFs are of their infancy, and as currencies, 1000’s of years younger than gold. Ethereum ETFs began trading in June after their approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission and analysts expect that under a crypto-friendly Trump administration that takes office next month, more coins, from Solana to XRP, will get packaged into ETFs.
Based on a tweet late Tuesday from ETF Store President Nate Geraci that cited Bloomberg analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart, crypto ETFs assets may top those of precious metals next yr. Balchunas earlier this yr predicted that spot bitcoin funds will surpass the assets under management in gold funds in the following two years.