BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF has quickly become the largest spot bitcoin ETF in the US, with assets of around $100 billion.
but Is IBIT Really the Best Bitcoin ETF for Investors in 2025?Or is it simply the largest?
IBIT controls roughly 60% of all spot Bitcoin ETF assets, but that’s not the whole story. As more Bitcoin ETFs from Fidelity, ARK, and Grayscale compete on fees and liquidity, the question of which one is the better option for investors has never been more important.
Learn what questions to ask when choosing the best Bitcoin ETFs. Getty Images
IBIT is the spot Bitcoin ETF from BlackRock and iShares. According to the fund’s website:
“IBIT enables investors to gain exposure to bitcoin through an exchange-traded product, helping to remove the operational, tax and custodial complexities of holding bitcoin directly.”
Launch date: January 5, 2024
Expense ratio: 0.25%
Guardian: Coinbase Prime
Assets under management: $97.1 billion (as of October 9, 2025)
Simplicity and access: You can buy and hold Bitcoin through a broker, such as Fidelity or Vanguard, without needing a crypto wallet.
Security and custody: Coinbase is a well-known name in the cryptocurrency space. BlackRock oversees the trust.
Liquidity: Bitcoin ETFs trade on exchanges throughout the day, just like stocks.
However, these considerations are present in all Bitcoin ETFs. Knowing which is the best Bitcoin ETF can boil down to just a few small details.
There are more than 10 Bitcoin ETFs that investors can choose from. Determining which is better lies in answering some important questions:
What is the best performing Bitcoin mutual fund?
What is the cheapest Bitcoin ETF?
Which Bitcoin ETFs have the most liquidity?
Let’s think about the competition.
The Fidelity Bitcoin ETF is IBIT’s biggest competitor. It is the second largest Bitcoin institutional investor with assets of $25 billion. Fidelity is one of the biggest and most well-known names in the investment management industry. It has obviously gained a lot of attention in the Bitcoin ETF space.
GBTC was the first Bitcoin fund, launched in 2013 as a trust, rather than an ETF. Being the original Bitcoin fund has helped it amass $20 billion in assets. It will officially convert from a trust to an exchange-traded fund (ETF) when other Bitcoin ETFs launch in 2024.
Bitcoin aligns well thematically with ARK, which is known for investing in revolutionary innovations. In the iShares vs. ARK battle, ARK likely has a more tech-savvy, high-conviction investor base, and ARKB’s $5 billion asset base makes it a legitimate IBIT competitor.
More ETFs
Since all Bitcoin ETFs track the spot price of Bitcoin, their compositions are essentially the same. The difference that helps determine the best Bitcoin ETF comes down to fees.
Here are the expense ratios and trading spreads for this list of 12 Bitcoin ETFs (as of October 9, 2025):
The cheapest Bitcoin ETF in 2025 is the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini ETF (Bitcoin), which is basically just a cheaper version of GBTC that is more geared towards retail investors. Most people think it’s just IBIT versus FBTC, but Grayscale is the winner in fees.
When it comes to Bitcoin ETF fees, most have an annual expense ratio ranging from 0.20% to 0.25%. GBTC decided to keep fees from the pre-ETF days, but this creates a significant performance drag for investors.
The spread is the trading cost included in ETF transactions. In general, larger, more actively traded ETFs have smaller spreads, and vice versa. Most Bitcoin ETFs are heavily traded and, therefore, have small trading spreads.
The bottom line is that fees directly impact the performance of the Bitcoin ETF.
Since the composition of spot Bitcoin ETFs is essentially the same, the lower cost usually wins out. Lower fees equal better returns for shareholders, and that’s exactly what we saw in the following graph of Bitcoin ETF performance.
With the lowest fees overall, BTC is among the best-performing Bitcoin ETFs. HODL and EZBC have historically had better returns, but they have also waived their fees in the past, which has helped increase their returns.
Not surprisingly, GBTC and its unusually large expense ratio produce the worst returns. This makes GBTC the worst Bitcoin ETF of the bunch.
IBIT is one of 12 Bitcoin ETFs currently available to investors.
iShares’ biggest competitors are Fidelity, Grayscale, and ARK.
Determining the best Bitcoin ETF depends on fees and expenses.
Given that all Bitcoin ETFs invest in the same thing, lower fees usually win out.
The iShares Bitcoin ETF is the largest, but the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini ETF is the best.
BTC has the lowest overhead, and trading fees are minimal. In a category where every cryptocurrency ETF is essentially the same, the small details really matter.
With Bitcoin ETFs, the difference is fees. Right now, this makes BTC the best of the bunch.
