Spot Bitcoin ETFs are ‘quietly on fire’, expert says

U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds have started the year on a strong note, according to Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.

It has been slightly over a year since the Securities and Exchange Commission approved the launch of spot Bitcoin ( BTC ) ETFs for the U.S. market. After achieving record net inflows and assets under management in 2024, spot BTC ETFs have entered 2025 with notable momentum.

In a post on X on Jan. 24, Balchunas highlighted the impressive performance of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs. Funds such as BlackRock’s IBIT, Fidelity’s FBTC, and Ark/21Shares’ ARKB have seen significant inflows year to date. IBIT recorded net inflows of over $2.3 billion YTD, while FBTC attracted over $1.1 billion.

“The spot bitcoin ETFs quietly on fire to start the year, with $4.2b in flows which is 6% of all ETF flows,” he noted.

Since their launch, these ETFs have garnered more than $40 billion in net inflows, with total AUM now exceeding $121 billion.

With a return of approximately 127%, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have now surpassed environmental, social, and governance ETFs in total assets. Leading ESG ETFs, such as Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF, iShares Global Clean Energy ETF, and SPDR S&P 500 Fossil Fuel Reserves Free ETF, collectively hold about $117 billion in AUM.

According to Balchunas, net assets held in spot Bitcoin ETFs are now “about the same as gold spot.”

While BTC ETFs are off to a strong start this year, the Ethereum ( ETH ) market has not seen the same level of traction. Meanwhile, the crypto market has witnessed a surge of activity with new altcoin ETF filings, including ones for Solana, XRP, Litecoin, TRUMP and Dogecoin .

Could these altcoin ETFs pose a threat to U.S. spot Bitcoin funds? Balchunas doesn’t believe so.

“For more context, Ether ETFs are like +$130m YTD, which isn’t bad, but this is why BTC is on another level and will utterly dominate this category. Even if we see like 10 altcoin ETFs roll out, they’ll draw headlines but fight over crumbs (albeit sizable ones) relatively speaking,” he posted on X.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows of $188 million on Jan. 23, marking the sixth consecutive day of positive flows. In 2025 alone, these funds have seen over $1 billion in net inflows on Jan. 17 and more than $805 million on Jan. 21.

Notably, the slowdown to $188 million came as the market reacted to former President Trump’s crypto executive order.