Happy first birthday, bitcoin spot ETFs

The SEC approved bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds on January 10, 2024.

1/10/25 11:20AM

It’s been one year since the SEC approved the first spot bitcoin ETFs, which many saw as a landmark decision for the crypto industry. These ETFs now have $109 billion in assets under management and hold about 6% of the total bitcoin supply. Even before they hit the one-year mark, bitcoin ETFs “flipped” gold ETFs in assets under management on December 17, according to K33 Research.

The approval contributed to boosting the asset’s value: bitcoin was trading at around $46,000 on January 10, 2024, and as of writing, is hovering at $94,000, after crossing the $100,000 mark for the first time on December 4 and again on January 6.

The most successful bitcoin ETF is BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, with almost $53 billion in assets under management. As Bloomberg put it: “Simply put, no ETF has ever had a better debut.”

After BlackRock’s bitcoin ETF, the other funds rounding up the top five are:

Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund: $19.6 billion in assets
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF: $19.2 billion in assets
ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF: $4.5 billion in assets
Bitwise Bitcoin ETF: $4.2 billion in assets

Following the approval of bitcoin ETFs, spot ethereum ETFs were next to get the nod and began trading in July 2024. They now have $10.1 billion in assets, according to BlockWorks.

With the incoming crypto-friendly Trump administration, bulls are optimistic about a slew of altcoin ETF approvals this year. A solana ETF might materialize soon, as VanEck and 21Shares have each filed applications for these products. Ripple President Monica Long also recently told Bloomberg that an XRP ETF could happen soon.

Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy is a financial journalist who’s written for Dow Jones, The Financial Times Group, and Business Insider, among others.

Sage D. Young

Solana has tanked since spot solana ETFs launched, despite the funds only recording positive flows to date

Solana’s ETF inflows are a supportive signal, but they aren’t the marginal price setter for the token, one expert explained.

Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy

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Sage D. Young1/28/26

Ripple launches treasury platform to manage cash and cryptocurrencies

Ripple, the firm closely tied to the fifth-largest cryptocurrency, XRP, introduced a new treasury platform for digital asset and traditional cash management for users like financial officers, treasurers, and accountants.

Ripple’s move comes more than three months after it acquired treasury software provider GTreasury for $1 billion, one of several steps to grow the firm’s position in corporate finance.

Combining Ripple’s blockchain rails and GTreasury’s software, the new platform’s goal is to simplify treasury operations. It eliminates settlement delays with payment times of three to five seconds and optimizes yield from working capital 24/7 through tokenized money market funds such as BlackRock’s BUIDL and overnight secure repo markets with RLUSD, according to a Tuesday blog post.

Ripple Treasury also aims to provide “real-time cash positions, automated forecasting, and seamless reporting across traditional cash, digital assets, RLUSD, and XRP holdings,” the blog post stated.

Last year, Ripple filed its national banking license application with the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, while the firm’s subsidiary Standard Custody & Trust Company applied for a Federal Reserve master account, which would allow Ripple to hold RLUSD reserves directly with the Fed.

XRP has seen $2.4 billion in trading volume in the last 24 hours, increasing 1.8% in the period. The token’s all-time high was set in July 2025 at $3.65. Meanwhile, spot XRP ETFs had nearly $9.2 million worth of inflows on Tuesday, bringing cumulative inflows to $1.4 billion.

Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy

1/28/26

Bitcoin is underperforming precious metals now, but experts warn of “short-sighted” view

The debate on investing in digital gold vs. actual gold continues, but it’s helpful to put each one’s performance in context.