US Spot Bitcoin ETFs on Track for $50 Billion in 2025 Inflows: Bitwise

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs are off to a promising start in 2025, with nearly $5 billion in inflows recorded during January alone. Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise, noted this surge in a February 1 post on X, projecting that the funds could attract over $50 billion in inflows by year-end if current trends persist.

Strong Start in January

“So far, so good: Spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in $4.94 billion in January, which annualizes to ~$59 billion,” Hougan noted. For comparison, spot Bitcoin ETFs brought in a total of $35.2 billion throughout 2024, exceeding initial forecasts of $15 billion.

Despite acknowledging potential month-to-month volatility, Hougan expressed confidence that Bitcoin ETFs would surpass $50 billion by the close of 2025, positioning them as a dominant investment vehicle for both institutional and retail players.

Leading Bitcoin ETFs Driving the Surge

According to data from Farside Investors, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) secured the lion’s share of January’s inflows, pulling in a staggering $3.2 billion. Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) followed with $1.3 billion in net inflows.

Grayscale’s Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF (BTC) ranked fourth with around $398.5 million, while Bitwise’s own Bitcoin ETF (BITB) captured $125 million, making it the fifth largest in terms of inflows for the month.

Historical trends reveal that ETFs often see subdued initial activity followed by exponential growth. The pair of Hougan and Bitwise research head Ryan Rasmussen emphasized this pattern in a December report, citing the example of gold ETFs which attracted $2.6 billion in their first year (2004) before more than doubling to $5.5 billion the following year.

Institutional Adoption Expected to Drive Future Growth

Hougan and Rasmussen predict that institutional investors will significantly ramp up their exposure to Bitcoin ETFs in 2025. One reason for this expectation is the anticipated involvement of major financial advisory firms.

“The world’s largest wirehouses have yet to unleash their army of wealth managers,” they noted, suggesting that once restrictions preventing access to Bitcoin ETFs are lifted, the potential market exposure could extend to trillions of dollars.