BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF has been a rare bright spot in a difficult 2025 for crypto — pulling in big capital even as the market sputtered. According to senior Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas, iShares Bitcoin Trust (ticker: IBIT) ranked sixth among all ETFs worldwide for net capital inflows over the past year. Data shared by Balchunas shows IBIT attracted roughly $25 billion in net inflows in 2025 — a striking result given the fund posted a negative return over the same period and was the only product with a loss among the traditional equity and bond ETFs shown in the chart he cited. The contrast with other major ETFs is stark. SPDR’s GLD, the world’s largest physically backed gold product, returned about 64% year-to-date yet trailed IBIT on inflows, while Vanguard’s S&P 500 ETF (VOO) led the pack with more than $145 billion in net new capital. Balchunas noted the paradox and the long-term signal it sends: despite a “bad year” for returns, investors still put meaningful money into Bitcoin exposure. “If you can do $25b in a bad year, imagine the flow potential in a good year,” he wrote, also crediting older, long-term savers — what he dubbed a “HODL clinic” of boomers — for a chunk of the demand. That said, flows were not universally positive across the week. SoSoValue reported that US-based Bitcoin ETFs recorded a $158 million net outflow on Friday, December 19, bringing total ETF outflows to roughly $497.05 million over the past week. Price action helps explain investor caution: Bitcoin is about 30% below its all-time high of $126,080, trading near $88,293 at the time of writing — down roughly 2% over the last seven days. Bottom line: 2025 has been rough for crypto prices, but BlackRock’s IBIT demonstrated strong capital-gathering power even in adverse conditions — a sign many in the industry view as bullish for future inflows if market sentiment turns. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

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