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Spot Bitcoin ETF Approval (January 2024)

11 ETFs approved.

A decade of rejections

The Winklevoss twins filed for a bitcoin ETF in 2013. The SEC rejected or delayed spot products for years, while Grayscale's GBTC traded as a closed-end trust at discounts up to about 49 percent in December 2022.

The court ruling

On August 29, 2023, the DC Circuit ruled the SEC's denial of Grayscale's conversion was arbitrary and capricious given approved futures ETFs, making approval far more likely.

Approval

On January 10, 2024, the SEC approved 11 spot bitcoin ETFs, and trading began January 11 with about $4.6 billion of first-day volume. BlackRock's IBIT, Fidelity's FBTC, ARK, Bitwise and others charged fees between about 0.20 and 0.25 percent.

Flows

GBTC, charging 1.50 percent, saw outflows of more than $15 billion in its first months, while IBIT surpassed $50 billion in assets by late 2024. US spot ETFs collectively held more than 1 million BTC by the end of 2024.

Price and market structure

BTC rose from about $46,000 at approval to roughly $73,800 on March 14, 2024, before the halving. The products created a regulated channel for advisers and pensions, and options on IBIT launched in November 2024.

By the numbers

For Spot Bitcoin ETF Approval, the reference figures are date of January 10, 2024, etfs of 11, trading of January 11, 2024, mechanism of Cash create/redeem. The comparison table below lines up fund, fee, notable — IBIT (BlackRock): 0.25% / Largest by AUM; FBTC (Fidelity): 0.25% / Self-custody; GBTC (Grayscale): 1.50% / Large outflows; BITB (Bitwise): 0.20% / Low fee.

Modeling Spot Bitcoin ETF Approval with the Crypto Vs Gold SP500 Parity Calculator

The Crypto Vs Gold SP500 Parity Calculator takes three inputs — Gold cap ($T), BTC supply (M), Share of gold (%). Parity price = gold cap × share ÷ BTC supply. With its default inputs (Gold cap ($T) = 16; BTC supply (M) = 19.8; Share of gold (%) = 100) it returns 808,080.81 $; swap in the figures from Spot Bitcoin ETF Approval above to reproduce the scenario yourself.

Modeling Spot Bitcoin ETF Approval with the Corporate Bitcoin Treasury MNAV Calculator

The Corporate Bitcoin Treasury MNAV Calculator takes three inputs — Equity market cap ($B), BTC held (K), BTC price ($). mNAV = market cap ÷ (BTC held × price). With its default inputs (Equity market cap ($B) = 80; BTC held (K) = 450; BTC price ($) = 65000) it returns 2.74 x; swap in the figures from Spot Bitcoin ETF Approval above to reproduce the scenario yourself.

Data Table

For educational and informational purposes only. Not financial, investment, tax or legal advice. Figures are approximate and historical; crypto assets are volatile and you may lose capital. Do your own research.