
- Trade stocks, options, ETFs, mutual funds, alternative asset funds
- $0 commission on stocks, ETFs and options with no options contract fees
- Get up to $1,000 in stock when you open and fund a new account within 30 days
- Access to a financial planner
With the approval of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), plus other types of bitcoin ETFs, it can be challenging to know which bitcoin ETF to buy.
To help you decide, we analyzed a cross-section of bitcoin ETFs that hold either spot (actual) bitcoin, bitcoin futures contracts, put or call options on bitcoin futures contracts or stocks of publicly traded bitcoin mining companies and came up with a list of the best bitcoin ETFs.
Please keep in mind that bitcoin is a notoriously volatile asset, as are the financial products associated with it, so consider how bitcoin ETFs fit into your overall risk strategy.
ETF name and ticker symbol | ETF description | Expense ratio | Assets under management (AUM) |
---|---|---|---|
BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) | Spot bitcoin ETF | 0.12% | $21.6 billion |
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) | Spot bitcoin ETF | 1.50% | $15 billion |
Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust (FBTC) | Spot bitcoin ETF | 0% | $11.2 billion |
Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) | Spot bitcoin ETF | 0.21% | $2.8 billion |
Bitwise Bitcoin ETP Trust (BITB) | Spot bitcoin ETF | 0.20% | $3 billion |
ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) | Spot bitcoin ETF | 0.95% | $1.8 billion |
*All data was sourced from VettaFi and is relevant as of August 6, 2024.
Finder’s investments experts considered the following criteria to narrow down the best bitcoin ETFs:
Bitcoin ETFs are ranked by AUM.
A bitcoin ETF is a type of ETF that holds bitcoin, bitcoin futures contracts, put or call options on bitcoin futures contracts or stocks of publicly traded bitcoin miners.
In the US, no bitcoin ETF is currently permitted to hold bitcoin itself, but almost a dozen financial institutions have submitted applications to bring this type of ETF — better known as a spot ETF — to market.
Buy and sell ETF units like any stock on the stock market through an online broker.
There are thousands of ETFs to choose from, so you’ll need to consider a wide range of factors when deciding where to invest your money. These include:
High fees can make a big dent in your overall investment returns. There are two main costs involved when investing in listed funds: brokerage and management fees.
To find the trading platform that offers the lowest fees, you’ll first need to decide how much you want to invest and how many lump sums you’ll be investing over a year. If it’s just a single lump sum, finding a platform that doesn’t charge an inactivity fee will be key. If you plan on frequently buying small amounts, the brokerage fee itself will be more important.
Basic details about a fund can be found in its prospectus, which (in most cases) must be filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) before an ETF can be publicly traded. The prospectus breaks down key information about a fund including:
View all public filings related to ETFs and other regulated US securities directly with the SEC. You can also access an ETF’s prospectus by visiting the issuing company’s website.
Investing in a bitcoin ETF lets you get exposure to the price of bitcoin without buying it directly through a crypto exchange. And it can give you exposure to bitcoin’s price in your 401(k), IRA or in a taxable account through a traditional brokerage. It also takes away the need to manage the private keys for your bitcoin in a non-custodial wallet.
When you invest in bitcoin ETFs, you don’t have to deal with the hassle of storing the private keys to your bitcoin in a crypto wallet. As there have been many instances of people losing their private keys — and therefore their bitcoin — many investors feel safer getting exposure to bitcoin via a professionally managed bitcoin ETF.
Before deciding whether ETFs are the best investment solution for you, make sure you’re fully aware of how they work and have an in-depth understanding of all the risks involved. These include:
Because bitcoin’s price is volatile, it can be helpful to have a financial instrument that lets you bet on when you think bitcoin’s price will go down.
The Proshares Short Bitcoin ETF (BITI) does exactly that but without some of the difficulties and risks associated with shorting a bitcoin directly.
The professionals who manage BITI buy and sell the put and call options on bitcoin futures contracts for you, so you can get exposure to bitcoin’s downward price action without having to purchase and manage these options yourself.(2)
So, if you’re bearish on bitcoin, you need only buy some shares of BITI to express that thesis via the market, and you’ll profit from bitcoin’s price decreasing if you’re right.
While there are a number of different types of bitcoin ETFs to buy, our analysis shows that the best bitcoin ETFs are all currently spot bitcoin ETFs.
If you’ve been looking to get exposure to bitcoin’s price in your retirement account or through a taxable account at a traditional brokerage, you now have trustworthy investment vehicles to use with spot bitcoin ETFs.
Check out Finder's picks for the best brokerage accounts
Compare top brokerage accounts and apps to help you maximize your investment.
The 11 spot bitcoin ETFs that recently came to market are good for bitcoin in that more people and institutions can now get price exposure to bitcoin through a regulated instrument. This will likely cause the asset’s price to rise over time. Some view it as a bad thing, though, because more actual bitcoin will now be concentrated in the hands of fewer people and institutions. This goes against the ethos of bitcoin, which includes the idea that it’s peer-to-peer money designed to be an alternative to traditional financial structures.
A bitcoin ETF that actually holds bitcoin is called a spot bitcoin ETF. This type of ETF does not currently exist in US markets. Ten financial institutions, including VanEck and Valkyrie, have applied to bring one to market, but the SEC has yet to approve any of these applications.
GBTC and BITO are two different types of bitcoin ETFs. GBTC is a spot bitcoin ETF while BITO is a futures bitcoin ETF. If you’re looking to purchase shares of an ETF that most closely tracks the price of bitcoin, then GBTC is the better option. However, other spot ETFs like FBTC or BITB have much lower expense ratios than GBTC, which makes them good options, as well.
The bitcoin ETFs that came to market in January 2024 are called spot bitcoin ETFs. Spot ETFs hold the actual underlying asset, not derivative products for the asset. The shares of spot bitcoin ETFs track the price of the underlying asset.
Track the progress of the S&P 500 stocks to make more informed investment decisions.
These are the stocks to buy when you don’t have much to spend.
These are the best day trading apps, according to Finder’s comprehensive analysis.
Explore the best bonuses for opening a new brokerage account.
Stock lending allows investors to loan out their existing stocks, although it has both advantages and disadvantages.
Want to buy and sell international stocks? Here are the top brokers to help you trade global markets.
These are the best discount brokers of 2025 according to Finder’s comprehensive review.
Compare the 7 best stock picking services, according to Finder’s analysis, and learn how to choose the best option for your needs.
We’ve rounded up stats on some of the most popular graphene stocks, along with information on how they compare and how to invest.
Webull is a broker with zero-commission trading and a suite of tools to help you invest.