--- title: "What Is a Spot Bitcoin ETF? How It Differs From a Futures ETF" term: "Spot bitcoin ETF" type: glossary_term canonical: https://www.moonwire.org/insights/glossary/spot-bitcoin-etf.html --- # What Is a Spot Bitcoin ETF? How It Differs From a Futures ETF > An exchange-traded fund that holds bitcoin itself, so its shares track the value of the coins in the fund. The SEC approved the first US spot bitcoin ETFs on 10 January 2024; spot ether ETFs followed later that year. A **spot bitcoin ETF** is an exchange-traded fund that holds actual bitcoin, bought at the current ("spot") price, and issues shares that trade on a stock exchange. An investor gets exposure to bitcoin's price through an ordinary brokerage account, while a custodian holds the coins for the fund. ## Spot versus futures Earlier US bitcoin ETFs held **futures contracts** instead of coins — the first, the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, launched in October 2021. A futures fund keeps selling expiring contracts and buying later-dated ones, so its returns can drift away from bitcoin's. A spot fund's value moves with the coins it holds. ## How the US products arrived Between 2018 and March 2023 the SEC disapproved more than 20 spot bitcoin ETP filings. In August 2023 a federal appeals court held that it had not adequately explained rejecting Grayscale's proposal, and on **10 January 2024** the SEC approved eleven spot bitcoin ETFs, which began trading that month. Spot ether ETFs followed in 2024. ## What a share is worth Each share is a slice of the fund's coins. A fund holding 10,000 BTC with 20 million shares outstanding carries 0.0005 BTC per share; at a bitcoin price of $60,000, that is $30 of net asset value a share. The sponsor's annual fee is typically paid from the fund's bitcoin, so coins per share slowly decline — a 0.25% fee takes 0.0005 BTC to about 0.000499 over a year. The market price stays close to that value because large brokers can create or redeem shares with the fund, the process behind [ETF flows](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/glossary/etf-flows.md). ## In MoonWire analysis Spot ETFs appear in our coverage mostly through their flows. In mid-August 2026 we reported [bitcoin's spot ETFs shedding $389.71 million in a week while Solana's and XRP's took money in](/insights/market-pulse-2026-08-17.html) — the spot structure now reaches beyond bitcoin and ether. ## What it is not Not every bitcoin ETF is a spot ETF: BlackRock's [covered-call bitcoin income fund](/insights/blackrock-yield-bearing-bitcoin-etf.html), launched in June 2026, runs an options strategy that caps part of the upside by design. And an ETF share is not [self-custody](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/glossary/self-custody.md) — the holder owns fund shares, not coins under their own control. ## Further reading - [Mintz: SEC Approves Spot Bitcoin ETFs (12 January 2024)](https://www.mintz.com/insights-center/viewpoints/2401/2024-01-12-sec-approves-spot-bitcoin-etfs-gensler-still-disapproves) - [Wikipedia: Exchange-traded fund](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exchange-traded_fund) - [Wikipedia: Grayscale Investments](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grayscale_Investments) ## Where this appears in MoonWire analysis - [Prognosis Daily - a bankruptcy filing drives the week's strongest read, and three calls expire wrong](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/prognosis-daily-2026-07-29.md) — Jul 28, 2026 --- *MoonWire surfaces and summarizes public crypto news.* **General information only — not financial advice.** MoonWire Ltd. is not licensed by ASIC and holds no AFSL. This content does not consider your objectives, financial situation, or needs, and is not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any asset. *This analysis is generated by artificial intelligence and may be inaccurate, incomplete, or fabricated. Independently verify before acting.* © 2026 MoonWire Ltd. · [Terms](https://www.moonwire.org/legal/TOS) · [Risk Disclosure](https://www.moonwire.org/legal/RISK_DISCLOSURE) · [Privacy Policy](https://www.moonwire.org/legal/PRIVACY_POLICY)