2024 Encryption Spot ETF Review: A Year Creating a $40 Billion Market Size

2024 is a milestone year for the cryptocurrency market. On January 11, the US Bitcoin Spot ETF was officially approved for listing, with a trading volume of $4.6 billion on the first day and a net inflow of $628 million. Subsequently, several countries, including Hong Kong and Australia, also launched Bitcoin Spot ETFs, promoting the legalization process of global crypto assets. As of now, the asset size of US crypto ETFs has exceeded $122.39 billion, while Hong Kong has reached $46.7 million.

In 2024, encryption assets will truly begin to transition into mainstream assets. The latest data shows that various institutions, including donation funds, pension funds, hedge funds, investment advisors, and family offices, have become holders of encryption ETFs. In addition to Bitcoin, ETFs for other digital assets such as Solana and XRP are gradually entering the public eye, laying the foundation for development in 2025.

This article will review the key milestones of the 2024 encryption Spot ETF, analyze the market performance of encryption ETFs over the past year, and look ahead to the development prospects of encryption ETFs in 2025.

! 2024 Crypto Spot ETF Report Card: 1 Year, $40 Billion

Key Milestones Review: Birth Year of the Encryption Spot ETF

Bitcoin Spot ETF 2024 Timeline

On January 11th, the United States officially approved the listing of the Bitcoin Spot ETF, with a trading volume exceeding $4.6 billion on the first day and a net inflow of $628 million. In the first three days of trading, the volume approached $10 billion.

On January 19, the assets under management of Bitcoin ETFs in the United States surpassed those of silver ETFs, making it the second largest ETF commodity category in the United States.

On April 15, Hong Kong approved BTC and ETH Spot ETF in principle. On April 30, 6 virtual asset Spot ETFs were listed and traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The fundraising scale on the first day was approximately 2 billion Hong Kong dollars, with a net asset value of 293 million US dollars. The total trading volume of the 6 ETFs on the first day was approximately 87.58 million Hong Kong dollars.

On June 4th, Australia's first Bitcoin Spot ETF began trading, and the Thai Securities Commission also approved the local first Bitcoin Spot ETF.

On September 23, U.S. regulators approved the listing of Bitcoin ETF options on Nasdaq. On October 19, they approved trading of multiple Spot Bitcoin ETF options.

Ethereum Spot ETF 2024 timeline

On April 24, Hong Kong approved the Ethereum Spot ETF. The net inflow on the first day was 14,200 ETH, with a trading volume of 2.99 million dollars.

On May 24, US regulators approved the first Spot Ethereum ETF's 19b-4 filing.

On July 23, the United States officially approved the Ethereum Spot ETF. The trading volume on the first day exceeded $1.019 billion, with a net inflow of $106.6 million.

On November 8, U.S. regulators delayed the decision on the listing of Spot Ethereum ETF options on the New York Stock Exchange.

Other encryption-related ETFs progress in 2024

On June 20, the first Solana Spot ETF application in North America was submitted.

On August 8, Brazil approved the world's first Solana Spot ETF. On August 21, the second Solana ETF was approved.

On November 22, the U.S. exchanges submitted listing applications for 4 Solana Spot ETFs to the regulatory authorities. On December 4, a certain institution applied to convert its Solana trust fund into a Spot ETF and list it on the New York Stock Exchange.

Multiple institutions have submitted XRP Spot ETF applications in the United States.

From November to December, various types of encryption-related ETFs have been successively launched or entered the application stage, ranging from single encryption assets to multi-asset portfolios, from index type to yield type.

2024 ETF Data Performance

The total assets under management of ETFs listed in the United States exceed $10 trillion, with $40 billion invested in the encryption market, accounting for 0.4% of the overall market. However, in 2024, the net inflow of Bitcoin Spot ETFs accounted for 3.5% of all net inflows of U.S. ETFs, significantly higher than traditional asset classes.

Since its launch, the Bitcoin ETF's liquidity speed is 4.5 times that of the inflation-adjusted gold ETF. The asset management scale of the U.S. Bitcoin ETF has surpassed that of gold. The BTC holdings of the U.S. Bitcoin Spot ETF have exceeded 1.13 million coins, making it the world's largest "Bitcoin holder."

As of December 24, the total net inflow of Bitcoin Spot ETFs in the United States reached $35.49 billion, with a total net asset value of $110 billion. The net asset value of the ETF from a certain institution accounts for nearly 50%, reaching $53.7 billion.

The inflow and liquidity of the US Ethereum Spot ETF have significantly increased since November. As of December 24, the total net inflow has reached 2.51 billion USD, with a total net asset value of 12.35 billion USD. On December 5, the net inflow reached 428 million USD, setting a new historical high.

2025 Outlook for Encryption ETF

From January 23 to 25, 2025, several Solana ETF applications will face their first review deadline. However, there are reports that regulators may reject some applications.

On January 18, the first review deadline for 10 types of encryption currency index ETFs submitted by a certain institution will arrive, which includes various mainstream encryption assets.

On January 30, the Bitcoin and Ethereum combination ETF will face its first review deadline.

Other pending approval encryption ETFs include XRP ETF, Litecoin ETF, HBAR ETF, and so on.

The final approval decision for the Ethereum Spot ETF options may be made around April 9, 2025.

Industry institutions and experts predict the main developments of encryption ETFs by 2025:

• The staking feature may be integrated into Ethereum ETF.
• Solana and other encryption currency ETFs are expected to be launched.
• Weighted encryption index ETF may be launched
• The inflow of ETFs will continue to increase.
• The new regulatory leadership may approve more encryption ETFs.
• Bitcoin ETF fund inflows in 2025 may exceed those in 2024.
• Trillions of dollars in institutional funds may begin to flow into Bitcoin ETF

Overall, the cryptocurrency ETF market is expected to further expand in scale and variety by 2025, promoting the deep integration of cryptocurrency assets with traditional finance.