Despite previous efforts by asset management firms to launch products that track the spot prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum, the regulatory environment has begun to shift with President Trump's return to the White House in January, and many anticipate new opportunities in 2025.
According to data from Farside Investors, as of December 15th, spot Bitcoin ETFs have seen a cumulative net inflow of $57.7 billion since their historic launch in January 2024. This represents a 59% increase compared to the $36.2 billion at the beginning of the year. However, the inflow of funds has not been consistently stable.
For example, according to CoinGlass data, on October 6, when the price of Bitcoin approached its all-time high of $126,000, investors poured $1.2 billion into spot Bitcoin ETFs. A few weeks later, on November 11, as the price of Bitcoin fell below the $90,000 mark, investors withdrew another $900 million from these funds.
However, this is only the second worst single-day performance in the history of spot Bitcoin ETFs: in February of this year, these products recorded a $1 billion outflow of funds due to the plunge in Bitcoin prices caused by concerns about trade and inflation.
According to CoinGlass data, since its launch last July, spot Ethereum ETFs have seen a cumulative net inflow of $12.6 billion as of December 15. In August, as the price of Ethereum surged to a record high of nearly $4,950, these products saw a single-day inflow of $1 billion.
As financial institutions become more accepting of these products, they operate largely behind the scenes, with greater focus on future ETFs that could drive up digital asset prices or expand access to new investors. However, some are relatively focused on ETFs that track multiple cryptocurrencies simultaneously, believing these are ideal for institutional investors.
Develop general standards
In September, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved a generic listing standard for commodity trusts, a move that responded to months of pent-up expectations.
The SEC's desks are piled high with ETF applications covering a wide range of digital assets, and the key to their approval lies in a question that previous SEC leadership has avoided for years: When should digital assets be considered commodities?
Instead of being forced to decide on the eligibility of various cryptocurrencies (from Dogecoin to President's memecoin) on a case-by-case basis, the SEC has established standards for exchanges to make digital assets eligible for commodity trusts.
The most important factors include: the digital assets backed by the ETF must be traded in a regulated market, have at least six months of futures trading history, or already back an exchange-traded fund (ETF) and hold a significant amount of related assets.
Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, told Decrypt in a September interview that this means at least a dozen cryptocurrencies could "go live" immediately. He believes this move is in line with expectations.
James Seyffart, a senior research analyst at Bloomberg, recently stated on X that the approval of the universal listing standard will greatly expand the number of products investors can invest in, but asset management companies are still awaiting approval results for at least 126 ETFs.
These applications primarily focus on tokens from emerging decentralized finance projects (such as Hyperliquid), as well as some relatively new meme coins, such as Mog.
XRP and Solana
First Bitcoin, then Ethereum. Now, US investors can buy ETFs that track the spot prices of XRP and Solana, as well as several other cryptocurrencies.
XRP and Solana, ranking fifth and seventh in market capitalization respectively, both faced regulatory hurdles during the Biden administration, but these hurdles have gradually dissipated as they have become the underlying assets of numerous products.
Last year, the launch of Bitcoin spot ETFs sparked a surge in demand, pushing Bitcoin prices to new highs. While other smaller cryptocurrencies haven't seen the same phenomenon, ETFs specifically tracking XRP and Solana have continued to perform exceptionally well.
"I think their impact on prices may not have met expectations, but in terms of their uniqueness, they have been a huge success and validated investor interest in cryptocurrencies beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum," Juan Leon, senior investment strategist at Bitwise, told us.
Leon said the timing of the Solana and XRP ETF launch in November was "unfavorable" because the overall economic situation in recent months has led to lower digital asset prices.
Nevertheless, according to CoinGlass data, as of December 15, the spot Solana ETF had received a net inflow of $92 million since its launch. The spot XRP ETF, launched in the same month, has received approximately $883 million in net inflows since it began trading.
The launch of the Solana ETF is noteworthy for another reason: it's one of the first ETFs to share a portion of staking rewards with investors. This trend was further accelerated last month by new guidance from the U.S. Treasury and the IRS.
BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, is one of the financial giants that has yet to expand its cryptocurrency product line to other assets. However, Leon points out that the communities of XRP and Solana may not need these companies.
"Judging from how ETF is operating right now, the engagement, strength, and scale of these communities far exceed many people's expectations," he said. "I think this is a good sign for the development of both ecosystems in 2026."
According to SoSoValue data, as of December 15, the net inflow into the spot Dogecoin ETF was $2 million.
Index Wars?
According to Gerry O'Shea, Global Head of Market Insights at Hashdex Asset Management, individual investors and hedge funds are the most likely groups to hold spot cryptocurrency ETFs in 2025, but this pattern could soon change substantially.
He told us that many advisors and professional investors are still doing due diligence on ETFs that track cryptocurrencies, but he feels they may soon start seriously considering allocating to such assets.
In addition, Vanguard announced earlier this month that it will allow its 50 million clients to trade a portion of spot cryptocurrency ETFs on its brokerage platform. Meanwhile, Bank of America has also approved a moderate allocation of cryptocurrencies for its private wealth clients starting next year.
“About a year ago, there was still a lot of uncertainty about the regulatory landscape, and they weren’t really ready to get involved in this area,” he said. “Now the question isn’t whether they should invest, but how they should invest.”
In this sense, O'Shea believes that ETFs tracking digital asset indices will be a hot topic next year. He says many professional investors appreciate the fact that these funds' holdings change over time, which gives them relative peace of mind.
O'Shea explained, "They can allocate to index ETFs to broadly participate in the market's growth potential without needing to know all the details. They don't need to know all the information about every specific asset."
In February of this year, Hashdex launched the first U.S. spot ETF tracking multiple digital assets—the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto ETF. This ETF is modeled after the Nasdaq Crypto Index and holds cryptocurrencies such as Cardano, Chainlink, and Stellar, as well as other mainstream cryptocurrencies.
Franklin Templeton, Grayscale, Bitwise, 21Shares, and CoinShares have also launched similar products, although some of these invest in digital assets through derivatives. According to ETF Trends data, this index ETF offers investment opportunities in a total of 19 digital assets.
While some U.S. retirement funds have purchased spot Bitcoin ETFs, the Wisconsin Investment Board liquidated its holdings worth $300 million around February. This move was disclosed through quarterly 13F filings by large institutional investors.
In November, Al Warda Investments disclosed a $500 million position in BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF. This investment firm is affiliated with the Abu Dhabi Investment Board (a subsidiary of Mubadala Investments), Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund.
Mubadala Investments itself disclosed its holdings in the BlackRock product in February, with the position valued at $567 million as of its latest 13F filing. Around the same time, Harvard University's endowment fund held shares in the ETF, valued at $433 million.
Brown University and Emory University also disclosed their holdings of spot Bitcoin ETFs this year, becoming among the first institutions to adopt the asset. Analysts generally believe that this shift in investor sentiment may reduce Bitcoin's volatility and mitigate its drawdowns.
"While the changes aren't drastic, they are certainly worth noting," O'Shea said, referring to the expansion of the investment base. "This shift from retail to institutional investors is very beneficial for the long-term sustainability of assets like Bitcoin, as these institutional investors have a longer investment horizon."
