The anticipated approval of altcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) might not deliver the substantial inflows investors hope for without involvement from investment giant BlackRock, according to market insights.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF secured $28.1 billion in investments in 2025, making it the only fund with positive year-to-date (YTD) inflows, which resulted in a total cumulative inflow for spot Bitcoin ETFs of $26.9 billion.
In the absence of BlackRock’s fund, spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced a cumulative net outflow of $1.27 billion year-to-date, according to Vetle Lunde, head of research at K33.
The inflows to spot Bitcoin ETFs have been the main catalyst for Bitcoin (BTC) price movement in 2025, as noted by Geoff Kendrick, Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets research, in a recent Cointelegraph interview.
As the largest asset management firm globally, BlackRock manages $13.5 trillion in assets as of the third quarter of 2025.
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BlackRock’s absence may deflate altcoin ETF excitement
According to Lunde, BlackRock’s lack of participation in the altcoin ETF trend could restrict the overall inflows and their positive impact on the respective cryptocurrencies.
“No BlackRock, no party,” Lunde stated on X. “BlackRock is missing from the upcoming altcoin ETF movement. This presents an opportunity for competitors to gain strong inflows, but overall flows are likely to be limited.”
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Despite the absence of the largest asset manager, some analysts hold a positive outlook for the next generation of ETFs.
Notably, the first Solana (SOL) staking ETF might attract up to $6 billion in capital during its first year, as stated by Ryan Lee, chief analyst at Bitget exchange, to Cointelegraph.
JPMorgan also forecasted that a Solana ETF might pull in $3 billion to $6 billion, while an XRP ETF could generate $4 billion to $8 billion in new investments, contingent upon the adoption rates of Bitcoin and Ether ETFs.
Bitcoin ETFs exhibited a 6% adoption rate whereas Ether ETFs had about 3% in their initial six months, implying that Bitcoin ETFs drew roughly 6% of BTC’s total market capitalization in that timeframe.
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