Crypto ETFs Defy The Pullback With $32 Billion In Fresh Investor Cash

[Ben Graham]

According to Farside Investors data, US investors put close to $32 billion into US crypto exchange-traded funds in 2025 even as markets lost steam late in the year.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs drew the biggest share, with $21.4 billion in net inflows. That is smaller than the $35 billion that poured into Bitcoin ETFs in 2024.

Blackrock Dominates Flows

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, IBIT, accounted for most of the activity. Reports show IBIT took in about $24.7 billion. That makes its inflows roughly five times larger than the nearest rival, Fidelity’s FBTC.

Market watchers noted IBIT ranked near the top among all ETF flows, placing behind only a few broad index funds and a big treasury bond fund.

If IBIT’s number is removed, the wider spot Bitcoin ETF group actually finished the year with about $3 billion in combined outflows.

Grayscale’s Bitcoin product lost nearly $4 billion on the year. Bitcoin’s price was lower than at the start of 2025; it began the year around $93,500.

Ethereum Interest Strong But Cooling

Based on reports, interest in Ethereum ETFs was real, but the momentum looks uneven. BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust, ETHA, sits at nearly $12.6 billion in inflows. Fidelity’s FETH follows at $2.6 billion, while Grayscale’s Ethereum Mini Trust ETF holds about $1.5 billion.

Still, public on-chain data showed little renewed demand for spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs in the last month of the year, suggesting flows may slow into 2026.

Ether ETFs benefited from being new and giving investors a regulated way to own ETH, but recent days have seen quieter buying.

Spot Ether ETFs, which only became widely tradable after their July 2024 launch, gathered $9.6 billion in their first full year. Spot Solana ETFs, launched in late October, added $765 million through year end.

Altcoin ETFs Show Curiosity, Not Frenzy

Litecoin and XRP ETFs also began trading in the latter half of the year, giving investors more choices for regulated altcoin exposure.

The sums are small compared with Bitcoin and Ether. Solana’s $765 million is an example of early interest that has not yet turned into a large, steady stream of assets. These products are being tested by the market.

Global Flows Tell A Different Story

Industry trackers reported that crypto ETFs listed worldwide experienced $2.95 billion in net outflows in November, and there was about $179 billion invested in crypto ETFs globally at the end of that month.

Regulators and exchanges moved faster this year under new SEC leadership that was more open to approvals, which in turn helped institutional adoption in the US.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView