The biggest winner with the worst loser

The US emerged as the largest investor in Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in 2024, while Canada – the first country to launch a Bitcoin ETF space – was among the biggest losers.

US spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs will capture 100% of the $44.2 billion in crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) by 2024, making the US the world's largest holder of Bitcoin ETFs by assets under management (AUM).

In the year Switzerland, the second largest buyer of crypto ETPs in 2024, saw only $630 million inflows – a 98% difference compared to the US.

Meanwhile, Canada, which launched its first physically-settled Bitcoin ETF in 2021, saw $707 million in crypto ETP outflows in 2024, signaling a shift to more liquid U.S. options.

Why does the US lead the world in Bitcoin ETFs?

The success of US Bitcoin ETFs comes a year after the US Securities and Exchange Commission made a historic decision to approve BTC ETFs in January 2024.

The dominance of the US in Bitcoin ETFs is not surprising, as it is the largest ETF market in the world.

“The US is by far the largest ETF market. The global ETF market is about $15 trillion; The US accounts for $10.5 trillion. It's only natural that we're big,” Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hugan told Cointelegraph.

The United States is the birthplace of ETFs and represents more than 70% of global ETF AUM, 21Shares' crypto research strategist Matt Mena told Cointelegraph.

“With decades of investors' familiarity with and confidence in the ETF structure, the US has naturally become a key market for these products.”

The United States is the world's largest capital market, and the US stock market alone accounts for more than 60% of the total global stock market capitalization, Mena added.

“US investors have historically been more adventurous and open to risk, especially in the technology space; so it's no surprise that their Bitcoin ETFs are the leaders in terms of AUM,” said James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares.

Canadian Crypto ETFs: $4.2 billion inflows in 2021, $707 million outflows in 2024

Canada will see the highest inflows from crypto ETPs in 2024, totaling $707 million, according to data from CoinShares.

Canada's

Canadian investment firm Purpose Investments launched its Purpose Bitcoin ETF in February 2021, making Canada the first country in the world to introduce Bitcoin ETFs.

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The world's first Bitcoin ETF debuted with an explosive $564 million in AUM within five days of trading. Since its launch, Canadian crypto ETPs have generated $4.2 billion in revenue in their first year of trading.

Canadian crypto ETF investors are switching to US-based options

Canada will experience the largest influx of Bitcoin ETFs in 2024, primarily due to a change in investor behavior following the launch of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, 21Shares' Mena said.

The transition is a result of US Bitcoin ETFs providing greater liquidity, broader investor participation and institutional support.

“Essentially, these Canadian EFAs have benefited from a regulatory ruling against the US where such products are not available,” he said.

“Once Bitcoin ETFs began trading in the U.S., a large number of non-Canadian real estate investors quickly moved their money out of Canadian ETFs and into U.S. real estate products.”

This change makes Canadian crypto ETFs the only ETF category in the country to see outflows by 2024, Bloomberg reports.

While US Bitcoin ETFs dominate the global crypto ETF industry, it is unlikely that another market will ever eclipse US AUM for Bitcoin products, CoinShares' Butterfill points out.

“But now, European issuers like ourselves have a much more diverse portfolio of ETPs and more efficient settlement processes for crypto ETFs, which offer higher yields in ETPs as a good example,” he said.

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