Crypto ETFs have big innovation opportunity in 2025, but demand may be weak

Published

11 months ago

January 14, 2025

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Omer Taha Cetin | Anadolu | Getty Images

Crypto ETFs may be entering a year of innovation, with new funds and new approaches, but don’t expect demand to match what was seen in the first year of bitcoin ETFs.

Bitcoin exchange-traded funds debuted a year ago and have been hailed as one of the most successful ETF launches in history, drawing $36 billion in net new assets in their first year, led by BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust. The ETFs were a catalyst spurring institutional adoption and helped double the total market value of cryptocurrencies in 2024.

The next crypto ETFs could see weaker demand, however. Already, applications for new funds that would track Solana, XRP, Hedera (HBAR) and litecoin have been submitted but, even if approved this year, they may attract a fraction of the assets that flowed in to bitcoin ETFs, according to JPMorgan. There has also been an application for a hybrid bitcoin and ether fund.

“We don’t see a next wave of cryptocurrency [exchange-traded product] launches as being meaningful for the crypto ecosystem given much smaller market capitalization of other tokens and far lower investor interest,” JPMorgan analyst Kenneth Worthington wrote in a note Monday.

Worthington noted that assets of $108 billion in bitcoin ETFs make up 6% of total bitcoin market capitalization after the first year of trading. For ether ETFs, which launched in July with less fanfare, that percentage narrows to just 3% ($12 billion) of the coin’s market cap after six months.

Applying those “adoption rates” to Solana, which has a total $91 billion market cap, JPMorgan projects ETFs tied to the token will attract between $3 billion and $6 billion of net new assets. A fund tracking XRP, which has a market cap of $146 billion, would attract an estimated $4 billion and $8 billion in net new assets.

Worthington added that the regulatory environment – specifically, the promise of a pro-crypto Congress and White House in 2025 that the industry hopes will boost growth in crypto businesses – could shape the outlook for innovation in crypto ETFs.

“The regulatory and legislative guardrails in the U.S. … will determine the type, quantity and focus of new products and services launched,” the analyst said. “The new administration and a new SEC chairman opens the door for new opportunity in cryptocurrency innovation.”

Tyron Ross, founder and president of registered investment advisor 401 Financial, expects demand for bitcoin ETFs this year won’t live up to what was seen in 2024 but will remain “healthy.” That’s largely due to investor education and growing confidence in the 16-year-old digital asset class.

Adoption could accelerate, however, if bitcoin ETFs get added Wall Street’s to model portfolios, he said.

“None of those portfolios have crypto in them, so until crypto is in there, you’re not going to see that next leg of growth this year that you saw last year,” Ross told CNBC. “The majority of advisors buy their their models off the shelf, and those models don’t have bitcoin or crypto [exposure] in them… when that’s addressed, I think you’ll start to see that parabolic [growth] like you saw last year.”

“You can feel it across the space that some of the regulatory clouds are clearing and there’s blue skies ahead, but there needs to be tempered expectations of the ETFs in the coming year,” he added.

Don’t miss these cryptocurrency insights from CNBC Pro:

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How black boxes became key to solving airplane crashes

Published

11 hours ago

November 30, 2025

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How black boxes became key to solving airplane crashes

After the search for survivors and recovery of victims in tragic aviation accidents — like that of a UPS cargo plane shortly after takeoff from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Kentucky last month — comes the search for flight data and a cockpit voice recorder often called the “black box.”

Every commercial plane has them. Aerospace giants GE Aerospace and Honeywell are among a few companies that design them to be nearly indestructible so they can help investigators understand the cause of a crash.

“They’re very crucial because it’s one of the few sources of information that tells us what happened leading up to the accident,” said Chris Babcock, branch chief of the vehicle recorder division at the National Transportation Safety Board. “We can get a lot of information from parts and from the airplane.”

Commercial aircraft have become very complex. A Boeing 787 Dreamliner records thousands of different pieces of information. In the case of the Air India crash in June, data revealed both engine fuel switches were put into a cutoff position within one second of each other. A voice recording from inside the cockpit captured the pilots discussing the cutoffs.

“All of those parameters today can have a very huge impact on the investigation,” said former NTSB member John Goglia. “It’s our goal to to provide information back to our investigators who are on scene as quick as we can to help move the investigation forward.”

This crucial data can also help prevent future accidents. A crash can cost airlines or plane manufacturers hundreds of millions of dollars and leave victims’ families with a lifetime of grief.

But in some circumstances black boxes were destroyed or never found. Experts say further developments such as cockpit video recorders and real-time data streaming are needed.

“The technology is there. Crash worthy cockpit video recorders are already being installed in a lot of helicopters and other types of airplanes, but they’re not required,” said Jeff Guzzetti, aviation analyst and former accident investigator for the Federal Aviation Administration and NTSB. “There’s privacy and cost issues involving cockpit video recorders but the NTSB has been recommending that the FAA require them for years now.”

Watch the video to learn more.

— CNBC’s Leslie Josephs contributed to this report.

Technology

Stocks end November with mixed results despite a strong Thanksgiving week rally

Published

2 days ago

November 28, 2025

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Stocks end November with mixed results despite a strong Thanksgiving week rally

Technology

Palantir has worst month in two years as AI stocks sell off

Published

2 days ago

November 28, 2025

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Palantir has worst month in two years as AI stocks sell off

CEO of Palantir Technologies Alex Karp attends the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit, at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S., July 15, 2025.

Nathan Howard | Reuters

It’s been a tough November for Palantir.

Shares of the software analytics provider dropped 16% for their worst month since August 2023 as investors dumped AI stocks due to valuation fears. Meanwhile, famed investor Michael Burry doubled down on the artificial intelligence trade and bet against the company.

Palantir started November off on a high note.

The Denver-based company topped Wall Street’s third-quarter earnings and revenue expectations. Palantir also posted its second-straight $1 billion revenue quarter, but high valuation concerns contributed to a post-print selloff.

In a note to clients, Jefferies analysts called Palantir’s valuation “extreme” and argued investors would find better risk-reward in AI names such as Microsoft and Snowflake. Analysts at RBC Capital Markets raised concerns about the company’s “increasingly concentrated growth profile,” while Deutsche Bank called the valuation “very difficult to wrap our heads around.”

Adding fuel to the post-earnings selloff was the revelation that Burry is betting against Palantir and AI chipmaker Nvidia. Burry, who is widely known for predicting the housing crisis that occurred in 2008 and the portrayal of him in the film “The Big Short,” later accused hyperscalers of artificially boosting earnings.

Palantir CEO Alex Karp vocally hit the front lines, appearing twice in one week on CNBC, where he accused Burry of “market manipulation” and called the investor’s actions “egregious.”

“The idea that chips and ontology is what you want to short is bats— crazy,” Karp told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

Despite the vicious selloff, Palantir has notched some deal wins this month. That included a multiyear contract with consulting firm PwC to speed up AI adoption in the U.K. and a deal with aircraft engine maintenance company FTAI.

But those announcements did little to shake off valuation worries that have haunted all AI-tied companies in November.

Across the board, investors have viciously ditched the high-priced group, citing fears of stretched valuations and a bubble.

In November, Nvidia pulled back more than 12%, while Microsoft and Amazon dropped about 5% each. Quantum computing names such as Rigetti Computing and D-Wave Quantum have shed more than a third of their value.

Apple and Alphabet were the only Magnificent 7 stocks to end the month with gains.

Sill, questions linger over Palantir’s valuation, and those worries aren’t a new concern.

Even after its steep price drop, the company’s stock trades at 233 times forward earnings. By comparison, Nvidia and Alphabet traded at about 38 times and 30 times, respectively, at Friday’s close.

Karp, who has long defended the company, didn’t miss an opportunity to clap back at his critics, arguing in a letter to shareholders that the company is making it feasible for everyday investors to attain rates of return once “limited to the most successful venture capitalists in Palo Alto.”

“Please turn on the conventional television and see how unhappy those that didn’t invest in us are,” Karp said during an earnings call. “Enjoy, get some popcorn. They’re crying. We are every day making this company better, and we’re doing it for this nation, for allied countries.”

Palantir declined to comment for this story.

WATCH: Palantir CEO Alex Karp: We’ve printed venture results for the average American