2025 Retrospective: Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs Thrive as XRP and Other Cryptos Join the Party

Source: PortaldoBitcoin Original Title: Retrospectiva 2025: ETFs de Bitcoin e Ethereum prosperam enquanto XRP e outras criptos entram na festa Original Link: https://portaldobitcoin.uol.com.br/retrospectiva-2025-etfs-de-bitcoin-e-ethereum-prosperam-enquanto-xrp-e-outras-criptos-entram-na-festa/ This year, (exchange-traded funds) opened many doors for cryptocurrencies on Wall Street as the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) adopted a new approach to these products.

Although asset managers struggled fiercely to offer products tracking the spot prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum, many predicted opportunities in 2025, with regulatory environment changes following President Donald Trump’s return to power in January.

Accelerated ETF Growth

By December 15, (spot Bitcoin ETFs) had generated $57.7 billion in net inflows since their historic debut in January 2024. This represented a 59% increase compared to the $36.2 billion at the start of the year. But inflows were not steady.

Investors injected $1.2 billion into spot Bitcoin ETFs on October 6, for example, when the asset approached its all-time high above $126,000. When Bitcoin’s price fell below $90,000 on November 11, a few weeks later, investors withdrew $900 million from the funds.

Still, this was only the second worst day ever for spot Bitcoin ETFs: when Bitcoin plummeted in February due to trade and inflation fears, these products recorded outflows of $1 billion.

Since their debut last July, spot Ethereum ETFs have generated $12.6 billion in net inflows through December 15. When the cryptocurrency surged near its all-time high of nearly $4,950 in August, these products saw $1 billion in inflows in a single day.

With signs of increasing adoption among financial institutions, these products mostly operated behind the scenes, while observers focused on the prospect of more ETFs that could boost digital asset prices or expand access to new investors. However, some are relatively focused on ETFs tracking multiple cryptocurrencies simultaneously, making them ideal for institutions.

Opening Options

When the SEC approved generic listing standards for commodity-backed investment funds in September, the regulator acted to meet an expectation that had been building for months.

The pile of ETF applications covering a wide range of digital assets had grown considerably, with approvals depending on a response that the previous SEC management had been avoiding for years: when should a digital asset be treated as a commodity?

Instead of being forced to make case-by-case decisions on the eligibility of various cryptocurrencies, the SEC set criteria for exchanges that made digital assets suitable for commodity-backed investment funds.

Among the most important factors, the standards require that the underlying digital assets of the ETFs be traded on monitored markets, have a six-month trading history of futures, or already back a traded fund with significant exposure.

This meant that at least a dozen cryptocurrencies were instantly “ready for use.” From analysts’ perspectives, the change was expected.

The approval of generic listing standards should significantly expand the number of products available to investors, but asset managers are still awaiting responses on at least 126 ETFs. These requests focus on tokens from promising decentralized finance DeFi projects, such as Hyperliquid, as well as relatively new meme coins.

XRP and Solana

First came Bitcoin, then Ethereum. Now, investors in the US have access to ETFs tracking the spot prices of XRP and Solana, among others.

As the fifth and seventh largest digital assets by market cap, respectively, XRP and Solana faced regulatory hurdles during the previous administration, which dissipated as they became underlying assets for various products.

The debut of Bitcoin spot ETFs last year triggered a demand wave that pushed the asset’s price to new highs. While the same cannot yet be said for smaller cryptocurrencies, products dedicated solely to XRP and Solana still generated notable activity.

“I don’t think they had the price impact that people might have expected, but I believe they were, in a peculiar way, great successes and validation of investor appetite beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum,” said a senior investment strategist.

The launch of Solana and XRP ETFs in November occurred at a “challenging time,” with macroeconomic conditions pushing digital asset prices downward in recent months.

Still, Solana spot ETFs generated $92 million in net inflows since launch through December 15. XRP spot ETFs, which debuted in the same month, generated approximately $883 million in net inflows since trading began.

The launch of Solana ETFs was notable for another reason: they were among the first ETFs to share a portion of their staking rewards with investors, a development reinforced by new guidelines issued last month by the US Department of the Treasury and the IRS.

XRP and Solana communities demonstrate to be much more engaged, strong, and larger than many imagined, which bodes well for both ecosystems in 2026.

Index Wars?

In 2025, individual investors and hedge funds were among the groups most likely to hold cryptocurrency spot ETFs, but this dynamic may begin to change significantly soon.

Many professional advisors and investors are still in the due diligence process for ETFs tracking cryptocurrencies, but there is an impression that they may start seriously considering allocations to this asset class soon.

On the other hand, large financial institutions have signaled they would allow their clients to trade some cryptocurrency spot ETFs on their brokerage platforms. Meanwhile, banking institutions approved modest allocations to cryptocurrencies for high-net-worth clients starting next year.

“About a year ago, there was a lot of regulatory uncertainty, and they weren’t really prepared to enter this market. Now, the question isn’t whether they should or shouldn’t be exposed to this market, but how they should be exposed.”

ETFs that replicate a digital assets index will gain more prominence next year. Many professional investors appreciate how these funds’ holdings change over time, providing them with relative peace of mind.

“They can allocate resources to an index ETF and gain broad exposure to the market’s growth potential without needing detailed knowledge about each asset. They don’t need to know everything about each of these assets individually.”

In February, the first US spot market ETF replicating multiple digital assets was launched. Inspired by the Nasdaq Crypto Index, the ETF holds Cardano, Chainlink, Stellar, and other major cryptocurrencies.

Other asset managers launched similar products, although some seek exposure to digital assets via derivatives. Overall, the index ETF group offers exposure to 19 digital assets.

While some US pension funds have purchased Bitcoin spot ETFs, some state investment boards liquidated significant holdings. This was revealed through forms that large institutional investors disclose quarterly.

On the other hand, sovereign funds and university endowments disclosed significant positions in Bitcoin spot ETFs. Brown University and Emory University also disclosed holdings in Bitcoin spot ETFs this year, emerging as pioneers in institutional adoption of the asset.

Overall, analysts say this shift in investor profiles could lead to lower Bitcoin volatility and less severe losses.

“This shift from retail to the institutional sector is very positive for the long-term sustainability of the asset class because now we have investors with much longer investment horizons.”