investors withdrew $330.8 million from BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), on Thursday—the largest single-day outflow the fund has faced since its launch.
IBIT has now seen outflows for three consecutive trading days, with withdrawals surpassing $390 million since December 30, according to SoSoValue data. In addition to IBIT, Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), the outflow king, also bled $23.1 million.
Looks Like A Rough Start
In contrast, the rest of the US Bitcoin ETF group reported positive flows. Data shows that ETFs managed by Fidelity, ARK Invest/21Shares, Bitwise, and VanEck collectively captured $106.5 million in net inflows.
While GBTC continued to face withdrawals, its lower-cost ETF counterpart reported $6.89 million in gains at market close.
Overall, all 12 US-listed spot Bitcoin funds ended their first trading day of 2025 with $242 million in losses, reversing the previous day’s positive performance.
Elsewhere, US spot Ether ETFs were also off to the new year with negative flows. According to data from SoSoValue, these funds endured a combined net outflow of $77.5 million on Thursday.
The outflow was distributed between BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHE) and Bitwise’s Ethereum ETF (ETHW), which saw losses of $21.4 million and $56.1 million, respectively.
IBIT Still Dominates Bitcoin ETF Market
While IBIT’s growth has stalled in recent weeks, the fund is still a major player in the ETF market, and obviously, the dominant force in the Bitcoin ETF sector.
IBIT burst onto the scene less than a year ago and a runaway success quickly followed. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart called it the most successful ETF launch in history. Seyffart estimates that the fund’s rapid growth could lead to $112 million annual revenue based on its 0.25% management fees.
IBIT also secured third place on Bloomberg’s 2024 top 20 ETF leaderboard after it netted $37 billion in year-to-date flows, only behind Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) and iShares CORE S&P 500 ETF (IVV).
And it appears that BlackRock will continue doubling down on Bitcoin and Ethereum, rather than shifting interest in other cryptocurrencies. Robert Mitchnick, the head of digital assets at BlackRock, previously stressed that their clients showed little interest in cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin and Ethereum.
By 2025, IBIT had amassed over 551,000 BTC. This gives BlackRock control of more than 2.62% of all Bitcoin that will ever exist.
Crypto ETF Market Poised for Major Expansion in 2025
Nate Geraci, president of The ETF Store, predicts that the crypto ETF market will see major expansion as 2025 kicks off.
The expert has outlined five key predictions for crypto ETFs this year, including the debut of combined spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs. This type of funds would provide investors with a convenient, single-investment vehicle for exposure to the two largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.
Geraci also expects that fund managers will apply to offer options trading on spot Ethereum ETFs. In 2024, a number of exchanges filed with the SEC to launch options trading for spot Bitcoin ETFs, which was approved by the SEC.
The implementation of in-kind creation and redemption mechanisms for spot BTC and ETH ETFs is also on the expert’s list. This process allows authorized participants to exchange baskets of the underlying cryptocurrencies directly for ETF shares.
Geraci sees potential for staking to be incorporated into Ethereum ETFs in the future. The feature would allow investors to passively earn staking rewards through their ETF holdings.
Staking was previously included in spot Ethereum ETF filings but was removed due to the SEC’s stance that staking may be considered a security. However, with the upcoming changes in SEC leadership and the incoming Trump administration, there is widespread anticipation that the SEC will eventually greenlight staked Ether ETFs.
Geraci suggests that the SEC will approve spot Solana ETFs at some point this year. Apart from Solana, fund managers have filed for ETFs that give exposure to major assets like Ripple (XRP), Hedera (HBAR), or Litecoin (LTC).
