Bitwise Predicts $50B Bitcoin ETF Inflows by 2025

Bitwise's Chief Investment Officer, Matt Hougan, predicts that U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) could attract over $50 billion in inflows by the end of 2025. This projection is based on the strong performance of these ETFs in January, which saw nearly $5 billion in inflows. Hougan noted that this pace would annualize to around $59 billion, surpassing the $35.2 billion inflows recorded in 2024.

Hougan acknowledged the significant month-to-month volatility in flows but remained confident that Bitcoin ETFs would end the year with inflows north of $50 billion. In December, Hougan and Bitwise's head of research, Ryan Rasmussen, had already predicted that Bitcoin ETF inflows in 2025 would surpass those of 2024. Initially, analysts expected these funds to bring in up to $15 billion, but they ended 2024 with $33.6 billion in inflows.

BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) led the inflows in January, with a total of $3.2 billion, followed by Fidelity's Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), which had a net inflow of nearly $1.3 billion. Bitwise's fund, the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB), had the fifth-largest net inflow over January, taking in over $125 million.

Hougan and Rasmussen's December report suggested that 2025 would see larger Bitcoin ETF inflows as institutional investors look to "double down" and increase their allocations to these funds. They noted that an ETF's first year is typically the slowest, with gold ETFs having $2.6 billion in flows during their inaugural year in 2004, which more than doubled to $5.5 billion over 2005. The duo also predicted that the world's largest wirehouses would expose the funds to potentially trillions of dollars by unleashing their army of wealth managers.