Crypto asset investment products had a tremendous 2024, led by US spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The products achieved their best-performing year, breaking 2021’s records by a mile, with Bitcoin-based funds dominating the market and setting the stage for 2025.
Crypto Investment Products Hit Record Year
Crypto funds saw a new record year after achieving $44.2 billion of inflows globally in 2024. According to European asset manager CoinShares, the 2024 market concluded with almost four times the prior 2021 record, which saw $10.5 billion inflows from all crypto-based funds.
The report notes that, while other countries saw positive net flows, US spot-based ETFs saw 100% of the inflows after recording $44.4 billion in the last 12 months. For instance, Switzerland’s $630 million in inflows were offset by Canada’s $707 million and Sweden’s $682 million in outflows, which saw investors switch to US-based products or take profits.
Ethereum (ETH) saw a resurgence in late 2024, accounting for 26% of assets under management (AuM). The investment products had inflows of $4.8 billion, 2.4 times the total seen in 2021 and 60 times the inflows in 2023.
Bitcoin-based investment products dominated the market, with US ETFs stealing the show. Bitcoin funds saw $38 billion in inflows, representing 29$ of the total assets under management (AuM). Meanwhile, short-Bitcoin investment products recorded $108 million in positive net flows last year.
Crypto investment product's performance. Source: CoinShares
FOX Business’ ETF report highlighted 2024’s rise in active funds and investors’ clamor for the new crypto-based investment products. Head of SPDR Americas Research at State Street Global Advisors Matthew Bartolini stated that the global ETF industry was “wrapping up its best year ever.”
Similarly, Sumit Roy, senior ETF analyst for ETF.com, considers the launch of the new ETFs and their “insane” inflows the main reason for 2024’s remarkable performance. According to Farside Investors data, US spot Bitcoin ETFs closed the year with approximately $35.3 billion in inflows, despite its recent performance.
Bitcoin ETFs See Green 2025 Start
Bitcoin-based investment products saw substantial outflows during the second half of December. BTC ETFs outflows ended a 15-day inflow streak, which saw the products’ total net assets rise from $100 billion to $120 billion and near Gold ETFs’ $128 billion.
Despite a brief recovery on December 26, propelled by the short-lived Christmas rally, the funds continued their end-of-year bleeding until December 31, ending the year with a small but positive net flow of $5.3 million.
The report highlights that digital asset investment products saw $585 million in inflows during 2025’s first days. However, the full week, which includes the last two trading days of 2024, registered a negative net flow of 75 million.
Bitcoin ETFs saw $242.3 million in outflows on January 2, the year’s first trading day, but $908.1 million in inflows on January 3, resulting in a positive $665.8 million balance for 2025’s first few days. This performance brought the investment products’ total positive net flows to nearly $36 million since their launch last January.
Notably, Fidelity’s FBTC saw $357 million in inflows, while BlackRock’s IBIT and ARK 21Shares’s ARKB recorded $253.1 million and $222.6 million respectively, followed by Bitwise’s BITB $61.1 million.
Some market watchers and ETF experts expect the crypto-based products to continue thriving this year despite the “overdue breather” performance. Eric Balchunas noted that Friday’s inflows were a good sign while “the scoring was spread around too, Dream Team-style,” which is “also a good sign.”
Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $99,105 in the one-week chart. Source: BTCUSDT on TradingView
