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

U.S. Bitcoin exchange-traded funds started the year on a strong note, according to Bloomberg Senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.

It’s been a little over a year since the Securities and Exchange Commission approved the launch of Spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETF for the American market. After achieving record inflows and net assets in 2024, BTC SPOT ETFs entered 2025 with notable momentum.

In a Post on x On January 24, Balchunas highlighted the impressive performance of US Bitcoin ETFs. Funds such as BlackRock’s ibit, Fidelity’s FBTC, and Ark/21Shares’ ARKB have seen significant year-to-date inflows. IBIT saw net inflows of over $2.3 billion YTD, while FBTC attracted over $1.1 billion.

“Spot Bitcoin ETFs are on fire to start the year, with $4.2 billion in flows, representing 6% of all ETF flows,” he noted.

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

With a return of approximately 127%, US Bitcoin ETFs have now surpassed Environmental, Social and Governance ETFs in total assets. Major ESG ETFs, such as Vanguard ESG US Stock ETF, Ishares Global Clean Energy ETF, and SPDR S&P 500 Fossil Reserves Free ETF, collectively contain approximately $117 billion in AUM.

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

While BTC ETFs are strong this year, Ethereum (Eth) The market has not seen the same level of traction. Meanwhile, the crypto market has seen an increase in activity with new Altcoin ETF filings, including those from Solana, XRP, Litecoin, Trump and Dogecoin.

Could These Altcoin ETFs Pose a Threat to Us Bitcoin Funds? Balchunas doesn’t believe it.

“For more context, Ether ETFs are like +$130M YTD, which isn’t bad, but that’s why BTC is on another level and will completely dominate this category. Even if we see 10 Altcoin ETFs rolling out, they will draw the headlines but fight on the crumbs (albeit considerable ones) relatively speaking,” he posted on X.

Bitcoin Spot ETFs saw net inflows of $188 million on January 23, marking the sixth consecutive day of positive flows. In 2025 alone, these funds saw over $1 billion in net inflows on January 17th and over $805 million on January 21st.

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