Bitcoin Spot ETFs Near Gold ETFs in Assets as Institutional Adoption Grows

The year 2024 has marked a significant breakthrough for bitcoin (BTC), driven by the increasing involvement of institutional investors. This has been facilitated through two major developments: the integration of bitcoin as a treasury asset by public companies and the growing success of U.S.-listed spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which now collectively hold more than 1 million BTC.

According to K33 Research, U.S.-listed bitcoin ETFs have surpassed U.S.-listed gold ETFs in assets under management (AUM), including leveraged products such as futures-based ETFs. As of December 17, bitcoin ETFs reached an AUM of $129.25 billion, slightly surpassing gold ETFs, which have an AUM of $128.88 billion, as reported by K33 Research analyst Vetle Lunde.

However, when focusing on spot products alone, gold ETFs continue to hold a slight lead. Bloomberg’s Senior ETF Analyst, Eric Balchunas, notes that U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs hold $120 billion in AUM, while gold ETFs hold $125 billion in assets.

CME Continues to See High Institutional Activity

The CME exchange, which is heavily used by institutional traders, is seeing strong activity, with futures open interest reaching new highs. Currently, there are 212,635 BTC in open interest contracts. Additionally, the basis trade premium continues to climb, now at 16.4% — the highest level since November 2023. This indicates that traders on the CME are expecting further momentum in the market as the year concludes.

The report also highlights the widening of the contango, with January contracts trading at sharp premiums over December contracts, reaching 1.5%. This marks the highest next-month premium since November. December contracts on the CME continue to dominate, with open interest equivalent to 113,480 BTC. As the December roll approaches, several upcoming banking holidays are expected to contribute to an even greater premium for January contracts.

Over the past month, U.S.-listed bitcoin ETFs have seen continuous net inflows, totaling $6.5 billion since November 27, according to Farside data. As the basis trade premium continues to rise and open interest grows on the CME, a significant portion of these net inflows is associated with the cash-and-carry trade.

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