The BTC ETF is expected to do even better in 2025.

To say that the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) has exceeded expectations in its first year on the market is an understatement at best. Rather, it might be more accurate to say that it fundamentally shocked the industry.

“How big was the Bitcoin ETF’s first year?” “It’s massive,” Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst James Seyffart wrote of X.

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) had the most successful launch in U.S. ETF history, amassing more than $52.3 billion in assets in its first year (combined with massive inflows and a sharp rise in the price of Bitcoin). Seyfart.

Three other spot Bitcoin ETFs – Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB), and Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) – also ranked among the top 20 all-time U.S. ETF launches.

Matt Horne, digital asset strategist at Fidelity Investments, said the past 12 months have been a “crucial” time for cryptocurrency markets. In fact, FBTC is the fund management giant’s largest publicly traded product, with nearly $19 billion in assets under management, according to the company’s website.

“We were optimistic about the launch of our Bitcoin ETP, but demand exceeded our expectations across all customer segments, including retail investors, advisors, institutions and more,” Horne said. “These products have seen tremendous asset growth and now, given their one-year performance, we expect continued adoption across both the advisor and institutional client segments.”

Where do we go from here?

Some hedge funds or pension funds have allocated modest funds to physical ETFs, but most of the inflows have come from non-professional investors. But that may change.

Mark Connors, founder and chief investment strategist at Risk Dimensions, told CoinDesk: “This is despite obstruction from some U.S. financial firms, which prohibit financial advisors and employees from even owning Bitcoin or altcoins in their personal portfolios.” “A negative trend has occurred,” he said.

“With more support from RIAs/advisors and wire houses and a price tailwind, 2025 flows will easily outperform 2024 flows,” he added.

2025 could be “the year of the cryptocurrency ETF,” according to Nate Geraci, president of ETF Store. He predicts that more than 50 cryptocurrency ETFs will be approved under the new leadership of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including spot Solana and XRP funds, as well as options-based and equity-based products.

“Gary Gensler always called cryptocurrencies the “Wild West.” Geraci wrote in a post on The ETF Educator. “I think that’s what we’re going to get from an ETF perspective under the Trump administration.”