Crypto ETFs See Significant Growth and Institutional Adoption in 2024
Spot Bitcoin ETFs have seen remarkable growth since their debut in January 2024, with net inflows reaching $57.7 billion, a 59% increase from $36.2 billion at the start of the year. Key inflows included $1.2 billion on October 6 as Bitcoin approached an all-time high above $126,000. However, about $900 million was withdrawn a few weeks after November 11 when the price dropped below $90,000, and February experienced $1 billion in outflows during a price slump.
Similarly, spot Ethereum ETFs, which debuted in July 2023, have attracted $12.6 billion in net inflows. August saw significant market movement with Ethereum approaching $4,950 and experiencing a single-day inflow of $1 billion.
Newer spot ETFs for XRP and Solana launched in November. Solana accumulated about $92 million in net inflows, while XRP gathered approximately $883 million. Notably, both ETFs were among the first to offer investors staking rewards following guidance from the U.S. Treasury and IRS. Spot Dogecoin ETFs recorded about $2 million in net inflows as of December 15.
In September, the SEC approved generic listing standards for commodity-based trusts, broadening the range of digital assets eligible for ETF consideration. At present, at least 126 ETFs are awaiting regulatory decisions.
Hashdex introduced the first U.S. spot ETF tracking multiple digital assets in February — the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index ETF — which includes Cardano, Chainlink, Stellar, and other major cryptocurrencies. Other issuers like Franklin Templeton, Grayscale, Bitwise, 21Shares, and CoinShares offer similar index ETFs, collectively providing exposure to 19 digital assets according to ETF Trends.
Institutional adoption has also accelerated. The Wisconsin Investment Board liquidated around $300 million in Bitcoin holdings in February, while Al Warda Investments disclosed a $500 million stake in BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF in November. Mubadala revealed a $567 million stake in BlackRock’s ETF as well. Harvard's endowment held about $433 million in the ETF, with Brown University and Emory University among other early institutional investors. Vanguard announced plans to enable its roughly 50 million customers to trade spot crypto ETFs on its brokerage platform. Additionally, Bank of America has approved modest crypto exposure.
