Spot Bitcoin ETFs: What Matters to Advisors?

This week, a number of spot bitcoin ETFs will hit a milestone. They will have successfully reached their one-year anniversary. At the start of 2024, many people, including us at VettaFi, were cautiously optimistic that there would be strong enough demand for the numerous competing products. One year later, there were nine spot bitcoin ETFs with more than $500 million in assets under management. Indeed, bitcoin ETFs helped make 2024 a year to celebrate.

“If you had any doubt that 2024 was a massive inflection point for crypto, this year’s Bitwise/VettaFi survey dispels it,” said Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan. “Advisors are awakening to crypto’s potential like never before, and they’re allocating like never before. But perhaps most staggering is how much room we still have to run, with two-thirds of all financial advisors—who advise millions of Americans and manage trillions in assets—still unable to access crypto for clients. We see that changing in 2025 as the Mainstream Era of Crypto continues apace.”

Bitwise Asset Management and VettaFi today released the seventh annual Bitwise/VettaFi 2025 Benchmark Survey of Financial Advisor Attitudes Toward Crypto Assets. Over 500 financial advisors answered a series of questions in the fourth quarter of 2024 on crypto assets and their use in client portfolios. Survey respondents included independent registered investment advisors, broker-dealer representatives, financial planners, and wirehouse representatives from across the U.S. 

We will dive deeper into the data during a VettaFi webcast together next week. On January 14, I will moderate the virtual event with Hougan and his Bitwise colleague, Carlie Donovan. We will focus on how advisors are approaching crypto assets. I hope you will join us.

VettaFi partnered with Bitwise to survey advisor sentiment toward cryptocurrency long before spot bitcoin ETFs changed the game. Based on the latest data, the future is very bright, as advisors and investors gain more access and education about the potential benefits. Asset managers like Bitwise bring tremendous expertise to the ETF community, and we are honored to work with them.

That expertise could be a catalyst for future growth for Bitwise. In our survey, we asked, “What are the most important features when choosing a bitcoin ETF?” 

Expense ratio (58%) and trading volume/spreads (52%) were the top two choices. However, we are intrigued that the brand of issuer (46%) and issuer support (43%) were notably more popular than AUM (28%).

The Bitwise Bitcoin ETF Trust (BITB ) has had a strong first year. However, with $4 billion in assets under management, BITB is the fifth largest spot bitcoin ETF. The iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT C+) is the largest with $53 billion. IBIT is followed by the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC B+) and the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC ), which each have approximately $20 billion in assets. The ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB ) has $4.5 billion. 

However, with a 0.20% expense ratio, BITB has the lowest expense ratio among the top five products. Advisors can better appreciate Bitwise’s research capabilities and support during next week’s VettaFi webcast.

Despite the strong demand in 2024, VettaFi expects continued interest in spot bitcoin ETFs. In our survey, we asked advisors, “What, if any, of the following exposures are you most interested in allocating to in 2025?” 

Nearly one quarter of respondents said spot crypto ETFs (22%), a notable jump from the 13% who chose the investment when asked one year earlier.  Meanwhile, the percentage of those selecting individual crypto assets held directly declined to 9% from last year’s 11%. Year two for spot bitcoin ETFs will be just as exciting.

Don’t miss the January 14 VettaFi webcast in partnership with Bitwise.

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