Bitcoin (BTC) Spot ETFs Surpass Gold ETFs (GLD) in AUM, Accumulate Over 1M BTC in Debut Year

One year ago, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the approval of Bitcoin Spot ETFs in what would be a historic move for institutional

A year ago, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) made history in the institutional adoption of cryptocurrency with the approval of Bitcoin Spot ETFs. In no uncertain terms, these exchange-traded products have exceeded market expectations in terms of both demand and performance, heavily influencing Bitcoin’s price trajectory.

Bitcoin Spot ETFs' Impact and Success

In an X post, Fox reporter Eleanor Terrett highlighted several key achievements of the Bitcoin Spot ETFs in their first year of trading. After extensive talks and dialogue in the latter half of 2023, the SEC finally cleared 11 Bitcoin Spot ETFs on Jan. 10, 2024 to begin trading on several US stock exchanges.

This development generated a lot of buzz in the digital asset industry, as these spot ETFs—promising institutional investment and regulatory clarity—were seen as a crucial step in the financial sector’s legitimization of cryptocurrency. Of the authorized Bitcoin ETFs, Eleanor Terrett shared that four—namely, BlackRock’s IBIT, Fidelity’s FBTC, ArkInvest’s ARKB, and Bitwise’s BITB—now rank among the top 20 best-performing US ETF launches of all time.

This achievement is further highlighted by the overall performance of all Bitcoin Spot ETFs, which boasted asset under management (AUM) of $129.25 billion in December, surpassing the Gold ETF AUM of $128.88 billion. To put this astounding performance in perspective, the Gold ETFs have been operational for 20 years.

Moreover, the Bitcoin Spot ETFs have now accumulated over 1 million BTC, surpassing even Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto.

Finally, Terrett highlights how these Bitcoin ETFs have contributed to the increasing acceptance of the leading cryptocurrency, pointing out how BlackRock has now emerged as one of the top four Bitcoin holders—coming just eight years after the company’s CEO, Larry Fink, famously referred to the asset as an “index of money laundering.”

Bitcoin Spot ETFs Continue Strong Performance in 2025

As the second trading week of 2025 comes to a close, data from SoSoValue shows that Bitcoin Spot ETFs continued to perform well, generating total net inflows of $307.20 million.

Once again, BlackRock’s IBIT was the largest gainer with $479.58 million in inflows, bringing its total cumulative net flows to $37.67 billion. In total, the Bitcoin Spot ETFs now command 5.74% of Bitcoin’s market capitalization, as their influence over the premier cryptocurrency continues to grow.

At press time, Bitcoin trades at $94,510, showing a slight gain of 0.50% over the past week. However, the coin’s trading volume has decreased by 69.49%, now valued at $18.69 billion.

Featured image from Fortune, chart from Tradingview