Bitcoin Mining ETF by CoinShares Tanks as Harsh Market Conditions Bite

CoinShares’ Valkyrie Bitcoin Mining ETF (ticker: WGMI) has earned the unwelcome distinction of being 2025’s worst-performing exchange-traded fund, dropping 43% since the start of the year, per Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas.

The fund, which is heavily concentrated in public bitcoin (BTC) mining firms, has been dragged down by steep declines across its core holdings. Its largest position, IREN, making up 15% of the fund, has slumped over 42%. Core Scientific (CORZ) and Cipher Mining (CIFR), representing 14% and 9.6% respectively, have fared even worse—down 48% and 52%. Even NVIDIA (NVDA), known for supplying critical GPU hardware, hasn’t been immune, slipping over 20% year-to-date.

WGMI targets companies earning the bulk of their revenue from bitcoin mining or associated infrastructure, such as chip and software providers. Currently, it holds 21 assets and manages $147.2 million in total.

The fund’s poor performance highlights the ongoing struggles of bitcoin miners in 2025. A skyrocketing hash rate, now hovering near 832 exahashes per second (EH/s), has significantly raised the bar for mining success. At the same time, persistently low transaction fees have chipped away at miner profitability.

While crypto miners stumble, other sectors shine. Metals and gold mining ETFs have soared this year—led by the Equity World Basic Materials DAXglobal Gold Miners ETF, which has gained 38% year-to-date.

With rising operational costs and diminishing returns, the crypto mining space continues to face a tough uphill battle—reflected starkly in WGMI’s performance.