It's been exactly one year since U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs launched, reshaping and expanding the role the world's largest cryptocurrency plays in the realm of traditional finance.

Immediately, the newly launched financial instruments — which allow investors to bet on BTC’s price without having to buy the digital asset — ushered in a wave of increased legitimization as products offered by Wall Street giants like BlackRock and Fidelity attracted tens of billions of dollars in fresh capital from investors seeking bitcoin exposure.

The spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds officially started trading one year ago today. Here’s a look at some of the major highlights and key themes to emerge during that time.

Volume and history

Right out of the gate, after the spot bitcoin ETFs gained approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 10 and then began trading the following day, volumes surprised many as the appetite for the new crypto-based funds generated billions of dollars in activity. In terms of volume, in the early weeks, the products issued by BlackRock, Fidelity and Grayscale led the way. Grayscale’s volumes were bolstered significantly by the fact that its product was a converted into an ETF and launched with about $29 billion in assets under management.

While trading volumes are a measure of both inflows and outflows and don’t demonstrate investors’ appetite to actually hold onto an investment, they do showcase curiosity and interest. And volumes soared.

In their first month, the newly launched spot bitcoin ETFs logged nearly $38 billion in cumulative trading volume, according to The Block's Data Dashboard. Six months in, that figure hit roughly $323 billion. Finally, with one year in the books, the crypto-based financial instruments have generated over $660 billion in trading volume.

According to Federico Brokate, head of U.S. business at 21Shares, fiscal policy in 2024 also contributed to interest in the new instruments. "Central banks cutting interest rates created a favorable macroeconomic environment for bitcoin, attracting capital as financial liquidity increased," he said. (21Shares launched a spot bitcoin ETF, ticker symbol ARKB, a year ago.)

BlackRock breaks records

While crypto enthusiasts became accustomed to seeing bitcoin in more headlines, with traditional financial news outlets like Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal and Financial Times all ramping up coverage of crypto, ETF market watchers were taken aback as BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, ticker IBIT, shattered records.

"IBIT’s growth is unprecedented. It’s the fastest ETF to reach most milestones, faster than any other ETF in any asset class." said Bloomberg ETF Analyst James Seyffart. In early November, after trading for less than a year, IBIT had net assets of $33.17 billion while BlackRock's gold ETF, trading since 2005, had $32.9 billion in net assets.

"Absolutely wild," ETF Store President Nate Geraci said at the time.

After amassing over $50 billion in assets under management (AUM) in the past year, BlackRock’s product emerged as the clear leader among spot bitcoin ETFs, followed by Fidelity’s with about $25 billion and Grayscale’s fund, which has about $20 billion in AUM.

The popularity of IBIT is also being felt in the options market, according to Greg Magadini, director of derivatives at blockchain data firm Amberdata. "IBIT ETF options, launched in November 2024, are already among the top dozen most actively traded equities, outpacing GOOGL and META and matching volumes seen with AMZN," he said.

Bitcoin's price

The re-election of Donald Trump, who has floated the idea of creating a strategic bitcoin reserve, may have helped push bitcoin above $100,000 for the first time in history, but the success of the ETFs also fueled the cryptocurrency’s price increase throughout 2024 as demand from retail investors increased.

"2024 was a major inflection point for crypto. Bitcoin soared 123% to an all-time high of over $108,000, propelled by the record-setting launch of spot bitcoin ETFs in the U.S., which gathered more than $35 billion in assets," according to a Bitwise Asset Management report published this week.

Bitcoin hit its all-time high of over $108,000 on Dec. 17. As of Saturday, the cryptocurrency was trading hands at about $94,000, according to The Block's Bitcoin Price Page.

Cumulatively, last month, the bitcoin holdings of the 12 U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds surpassed the 1.1 million BTC estimated to be held by the cryptocurrency’s pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto for the first time.

Legitimacy

Long-time crypto advocates needed little convincing ahead of 2024 of bitcoin's legitimacy. But the cryptocurrency's standing as an accepted asset class took on new shape thanks to the ETFs, and not only because traditional finance giants like BlackRock and Fidelity launched products and Morgan Stanley began allowing financial advisors to offer spot bitcoin ETFs to select clients.

"You just can’t underestimate the importance of that step when that first bitcoin ETF was approved," said Bobby Zagotta, CEO of the U.S. division of veteran exchange Bitstamp.

"It was two things: it’s a level of legitimacy, meaning a major government regulator had to recognize it as an asset class and that spoke volumes — particularly to the U.S. audience, but not only to the U.S. audience. It really had ramifications globally," said Zagotta. "The second thing it did is it provided exposure to bitcoin on a very well known, trusted pathway. People have been dealing with ETFs for a long time, they know how it works. It was just very turnkey for more and more new participants both retail and institutional."

The momentum of bitcoin and the spot BTC funds also appear to also be transforming government.

President-elect Trump announced last month the appointment of Yammer founder and former Paypal COO David O. Sacks as the White House A.I. and Crypto Czar, adding, "In this important role, David will guide policy for the Administration in Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrency, two areas critical to the future of American competitiveness." Trump also appointed former congressional candidate Bo Hines to serve under Sacks as the head of the Presidential Council of Advisers for Digital Assets — his "crypto council."

Widespread adoption

For some, spot bitcoin ETFs marking one year represents more than just a numeric milestone. "The 12-month mark is important, as that is when advisors will begin to review the ETFs for possible allocation inclusion," said Canary Capital CEO Steven McClurg, adding that it won't mean an immediate unlock of new capital.

"The process could take 6 months to 2 years before allocation decisions are made," he said.

The anniversary marks "generally a standard timeframe for intermediaries and institutions to allow for a product to launch and establish itself," echoed another digital assets executive at a top ETF issuer.

In its report published earlier in the week, Bitwise said the number of financial advisors allocating crypto to their clients rose to 22% in 2024, up from 11% the previous year. In 2025, 56% of advisors said they were more likely to invest in crypto this year due the results of November’s election.

"We’ve seen investments in a variety of account types, and are committed to providing digital asset solutions to clients in a variety of investment vehicles," said Matt Horne, Head of Digital Asset Strategists at Fidelity Investments. "Given these products have seen tremendous asset growth and now have a year of performance, we expect to see continued adoption across both the advisor and institutional client segments."

Different investment advisors' inclusion of crypto in client portfolios. IMAGE: Bitwise survey 2025.

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

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