Written by: André Beganski

Translated by: Block unicorn

Despite asset management companies previously striving to launch products that track the spot prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum, the regulatory environment began to shift with President Trump’s return to the White House in January, leading many to foresee new opportunities in 2025.

According to data from Farside Investors, as of December 15, the spot Bitcoin ETF has seen a cumulative net inflow of $57.7 billion since its historic launch in January 2024. This marks a 59% increase compared to $36.2 billion at the beginning of this year. However, the inflow of funds has not been consistently stable.

For instance, according to CoinGlass data, on October 6, when Bitcoin's price approached its historical high of $126,000, investors poured $1.2 billion into the spot Bitcoin ETF. A few weeks later, on November 11, as Bitcoin's price fell below the $90,000 mark, investors withdrew $900 million from these funds.

This was only the second worst single-day performance in the history of the spot Bitcoin ETF: in February of this year, due to concerns over trade and inflation, Bitcoin's price plummeted, resulting in a $1 billion outflow from these products.

According to CoinGlass data, since its launch in July last year, the spot Ethereum ETF has accumulated a net inflow of $12.6 billion as of December 15. In August, as Ethereum's price soared to nearly $4,950, these products saw a single-day inflow of $1 billion.

As financial institutions increasingly accept such products, they have largely operated behind the scenes, as the public's attention is more focused on future ETF products that could drive up digital asset prices or expand new investor channels. However, some are relatively focused on ETFs that track multiple cryptocurrencies simultaneously, believing these products are well-suited for institutional investors.

Establishing Universal Standards

In September, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved universal listing standards for commodity trusts, a move aimed at responding to the mounting expectations over the months.

The SEC has a mountain of ETF applications covering various digital assets on its desk, and the key to their approval lies in a question that previous SEC leadership has avoided for years: when should digital assets be considered commodities?

The SEC is no longer forced to decide the eligibility of various cryptocurrencies (from Dogecoin to the President's meme coin) on a case-by-case basis, but instead has established standards for exchanges to ensure that digital assets meet the requirements for commodity trusts.

The most important factors include: the digital assets supported by the ETF must be traded on regulated markets, have at least six months of futures trading history, or have already supported an exchange-traded fund (ETF) while holding a significant amount of related assets.

Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, stated in a September interview with Decrypt that this means at least a dozen cryptocurrencies could "go live" immediately. He believes this move aligns with expectations.

James Seyffart, a senior research analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, recently stated on X that the approval of universal listing standards will greatly expand the number of products available for investors, but asset management companies are still awaiting the approval results for at least 126 ETFs.

These applications are primarily focused on tokens from emerging decentralized finance projects (such as Hyperliquid) and some relatively new meme coins, such as Mog.

XRP and Solana

First Bitcoin, then Ethereum. Now, U.S. investors can purchase ETFs that track the spot prices of XRP and Solana, along with several other cryptocurrencies.

XRP and Solana rank fifth and seventh, respectively, among digital assets by market capitalization, and both faced regulatory hurdles during the Biden administration. However, as they become the underlying assets for numerous products, these hurdles are gradually dissipating.

Last year, the launch of the spot Bitcoin ETF triggered a wave of demand, pushing Bitcoin's price to new highs. While smaller cryptocurrencies have not yet experienced the same phenomenon, ETFs specifically tracking XRP and Solana have still performed well.

"I think their impact on prices may not have met expectations, but in terms of their uniqueness, they have achieved great success and validated investor interest in cryptocurrencies beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum," Bitwise senior investment strategist Juan Leon told us.

Leon noted that the timing of the launch of the Solana and XRP ETFs in November was "unfavorable," as macroeconomic conditions in recent months have led to declining digital asset prices.

Nevertheless, according to CoinGlass data, as of December 15, the spot Solana ETF has seen a net inflow of $92 million since its launch. The spot XRP ETF, which launched in the same month, has garnered approximately $883 million in net inflows since it began trading.

The launch of the Solana ETF is also noteworthy for another reason: it is one of the first ETFs to share a portion of staking rewards with investors. Last month, the U.S. Treasury and IRS released new guidance that further propelled this development.

BlackRock, the world's largest asset management company, is one of the financial giants that has yet to expand its cryptocurrency product line to other assets. However, Leon pointed out that the communities of XRP and Solana may not need these companies.

"From what we see in the operation of the ETFs, the engagement, strength, and scale of these communities far exceed many people's expectations," he said. "I think this bodes well for the development of these two ecosystems in 2026."

According to data from SoSoValue, as of December 15, the net inflow for the spot Dogecoin ETF was $2 million.

Index Wars?

According to Gerry O’Shea, global market insights director at Hashdex Asset Management, individual investors and hedge funds are the most likely groups to hold spot cryptocurrency ETFs in 2025, but this landscape may soon undergo a substantial shift.

He told us that many advisors and professional investors are still conducting due diligence on ETFs that track cryptocurrencies, but he feels they may soon start to seriously consider allocating to such assets.

Additionally, Vanguard stated earlier this month that it will allow its 50 million clients to trade certain spot cryptocurrency ETFs on its brokerage platform. Meanwhile, Bank of America has also approved its private wealth clients to moderately allocate to cryptocurrencies starting next year.

"About a year ago, there was still a lot of uncertainty in the regulatory space, and they weren't really ready to step into this area," he said. "Now the question is no longer whether they should invest, but how they should invest."

In this sense, O’Shea believes that ETFs tracking digital asset indices will become a hot topic next year. He noted that many professional investors appreciate the characteristic of these funds that their holdings change over time, which gives them relative peace of mind.

O’Shea explained: "They can allocate to index ETFs to broadly participate in market growth potential without needing to master all the intricate details. They don't need to know everything about each specific asset."

In February of this year, Hashdex launched the first spot ETF in the U.S. that tracks multiple digital assets—the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index ETF. This ETF models the Nasdaq Crypto Index and holds cryptocurrencies such as Cardano, Chainlink, and Stellar, along with several other mainstream cryptocurrencies.

Franklin Templeton, Grayscale, Bitwise, 21Shares, and CoinShares have also launched similar products, although some of these products invest in digital assets through derivatives. According to ETF Trends data, this index ETF offers investment opportunities in a total of 19 digital assets.

Although some U.S. pension funds have purchased spot Bitcoin ETFs, the Wisconsin Investment Board liquidated a $300 million position around February. This move was disclosed through the 13F filings submitted quarterly by large institutional investors.

AlWarda Investments disclosed a $500 million position in BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF in November. This investment company is associated with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (which is a subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company), the sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi.

Mubadala Investment Company itself also disclosed a position in BlackRock's product in February, with its latest 13F filing showing that position valued at $567 million. Around the same time, Harvard University's endowment held shares of this ETF worth $433 million.

Brown University and Emory University also disclosed their holdings in the spot Bitcoin ETF this year, becoming some of the earliest institutions to adopt this asset at the institutional level. Analysts generally believe that this shift among investors could reduce Bitcoin's volatility and lessen its drawdown.

"While the changes are not drastic, they are certainly worth noting," O’Shea said when discussing the expansion of the investment base. "This shift from retail to institutional investors is very beneficial for the long-term sustainability of assets like Bitcoin, as these institutional investors have longer investment horizons."

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