An overview of crypto investment vehicles

The crypto products of today continue to grow at an astonishing rate. In this piece, we try to shed light on just how fast the demand and the assets allocated to this space have increased over the past year. This past year saw a substantial increase in the participation rate of traditional institutions in the crypto space. This interest can be seen especially in the recent launches of crypto-related ETFs. ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO),  the first bitcoin futures ETF to be launched, saw nearly $1 billion in volume on its first day of trading and has continued to average around $240 million in daily trading volume. Similarly, total assets under management have continued to climb, reaching $1.3 billion as of the end of Q1 2022. 

While the amount of crypto investment vehicles has continued to climb at an astonishing rate, it's worth noting that the majority of the crypto fund market remains private, with various fund issuers offering access to various crypto-related products. Public funds have also continued to grow as the space has matured and attracted more interest from traditional financial institutions. One of the best ways to observe this change over time has been the overall growth in the Bitcoin futures market, launched back in 2017. But it wasn't until 2021 when the market had its breakout year with 80 new funds debuting, more than in any previous years combined. Similarly, Q1 2022 has also shown a strong continuation of this trend with 17 new funds launching.