# How iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) compares with the whole market and its popular alternatives

> Source: EasyCompare research, https://easycompare.io/research/ibit
> Data as of October 20, 2026. Total returns include reinvested dividends. Past performance does not predict future results; nothing here is investment advice.

Built by QuantCommons' quantitative engine, this page is about relative opportunity, not data on IBIT alone. It places IBIT (iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF) against 15 popular alternatives, its neighboring categories and the entire market of over 10,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, and surfaces what has done better on consistent outperformance, return for the risk taken and diversification. The result is a clearer view of where IBIT stands in the market, and of the alternatives worth a closer look.

Period covered: IBIT's full trading record, from January 2024 through September 2026. All returns include reinvested dividends. Data as of October 20, 2026.

## Key findings

- **What you're buying:** IBIT charges 0.25% a year; BTC (Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF) tracks the same thing for 0.15%.
- **Right now:** IBIT has run far ahead of the market, rising 26.6% over the past 3 months against 3.9% for the S&P 500 and 3.2% for the Nasdaq 100. On the flip side, the slide is IBIT's own: it is 34.5% below its high, against 1.3% for the S&P 500.
- **Fund or market?:** IBIT rose 26.6% over the past 3 months while the S&P 500 rose 3.9%.

## How much would $10,000 in IBIT have grown?

This chart tracks a hypothetical $10,000 investment in IBIT over the past 2 years, with dividends reinvested, alongside the same amount in the S&P 500, investments that ended ahead of IBIT over the same span and IBIT's popular alternatives, among those that traded for the entire period.

- $10,000 invested in IBIT at the end of September 2024 would have grown to $13,102 by September 2026, less than the $13,598 it would have become in SPY, an S&P 500 fund.
- Five of the eight other investments on the chart ended ahead of IBIT, and GOOG finished highest, at $20,524.

## IBIT at a glance

This section summarizes the key facts about the fund, its returns over periods from one to ten years and the risk it has carried, with dividends reinvested throughout.

- IBIT is still 34.5% below its all-time high.
- IBIT's deepest decline since it began trading in 2024 was 53.3%, from October 2025 to June 2026. It has not yet climbed back to that peak.

- Type: ETF, Crypto (Asset Management - Cryptocurrency)
- Trading since: January 11, 2024
- Assets: $65B
- Expense ratio: 0.25%
- Volatility (1 year): 45.0%; Sharpe ratio: -0.44
- Worst decline ever: −53.3%, from October 6, 2025 to June 30, 2026; not yet back at its high

| Period | IBIT total return |
| --- | --- |
| 1 month | −4.7% |
| 3 months | +26.6% |
| 6 months | +8.0% |
| year to date | −8.3% |
| 1 year | −25.8% |

## IBIT against the whole market

Where IBIT ranks among every stock and fund, and what across the market has done better.

### How does IBIT rank among all ETFs?

This section ranks IBIT on return, volatility, risk-adjusted return and worst decline against every ETF worth at least $100 million with enough history.

- IBIT's 1-year return ranks in the bottom 2% of the 2,485 ETFs with at least $100 million in assets with 1 year of history.

| Measure | IBIT | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1-year return | −25.8% | 2,441 of 2,485 (top 99%) |
| Volatility, 1 year | 45.0% | 2,409 of 2,485 (top 97%) |
| Sharpe ratio, 1 year | -0.44 | 2,235 of 2,485 (top 90%) |

## IBIT against its popular alternatives

The investments people most often weigh against IBIT, compared period by period and year by year.

### How do IBIT's risk and return compare with its alternatives?

This map plots each investment's annual return over the past 1 year against its volatility, the size of its typical price swings.

- GLD, BLOK and HODL were both more rewarding and calmer than IBIT over the past 1 year, earning a higher annual return with lower volatility.
- Over the past 1 year, IBIT returned -25.8% a year, less than the S&P 500's 15.8%, with higher volatility (45.0% against 12.7%).

### Has IBIT consistently beaten its popular alternatives?

This section compares IBIT with the investments people most often weigh against it, checking each one over five periods from one month to one year.

- None of the 15 popular alternatives outperformed IBIT in at least 3 of 5 timeframes. The closest was GLD.
- GLD earned more for the risk it took than IBIT (a higher Sharpe ratio) and fell less in its worst decline of the past 10 years.

| Investment | 1Y return | Periods ahead of IBIT | Verdict | Sharpe |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| IBIT: iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (this page) | −25.8% |  |  | -0.44 |
| [GLD](https://easycompare.io/research/gld): SPDR Gold Shares | −6.3% | 2/5 short-term |  | -0.08 |
| BLOK: Amplify Blockchain Technology ETF | −22.4% | 2/5 short-term |  | -0.42 |
| ETHA: iShares Ethereum Trust ETF | −39.1% | 1/5 short-term |  | -0.47 |
| [MSTR](https://easycompare.io/research/mstr): Strategy Inc | −51.9% | 1/5 short-term |  | -0.49 |
| HODL: VanEck Bitcoin ETF | −25.6% | 0/5 short-term |  | -0.44 |
| BTC: Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF | −25.7% | 0/5 short-term |  | -0.44 |
| ARKB: ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF | −25.8% | 0/5 short-term |  | -0.44 |
| BITB: Bitwise Bitcoin ETF Trust | −25.8% | 0/5 short-term |  | -0.44 |
| EZBC: Franklin Bitcoin ETF | −25.8% | 0/5 short-term |  | -0.44 |
| BRRR: CoinShares Bitcoin ETF | −25.8% | 0/5 short-term |  | -0.44 |
| FBTC: Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund | −25.8% | 0/5 short-term |  | -0.44 |
| BTCO: Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF | −25.8% | 0/5 short-term |  | -0.45 |
| [GBTC](https://easycompare.io/research/gbtc): Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF | −26.7% | 0/5 short-term |  | -0.47 |
| BITO: ProShares Bitcoin ETF | −28.3% | 0/5 short-term |  | -0.52 |
| [COIN](https://easycompare.io/research/coin): Coinbase Global, Inc. | −50.3% | 0/5 short-term |  | -0.61 |

## Risk and diversification

How IBIT has fallen, how it held up in crashes beside the S&P 500 and its popular alternatives, and what moves independently of it.

### What were IBIT's worst declines?

A drawdown is the decline from a peak to the lowest point before a new high.

- In all five of IBIT's worst declines, the S&P 500 held up better over the same dates.
- Not every decline was the market's doing: IBIT fell 53.3% from October 2025 to June 2026, while the S&P 500 rose 12.1%.
- None of these declines kept IBIT below its old high for long; the longest climb back took two months.

| Decline | Peak | Low | Back at the high | SPY over the same dates | Market event |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −53.3% | October 6, 2025 | June 30, 2026 | not yet | +12.1% |  |
| −28.2% | December 17, 2024 | April 8, 2025 | May 20, 2025 | −17.3% |  |
| −27.5% | March 13, 2024 | September 6, 2024 | November 6, 2024 | +5.4% |  |
| −16.2% | January 11, 2024 | January 23, 2024 | February 9, 2024 | +1.8% |  |
| −12.0% | August 13, 2025 | August 29, 2025 | October 6, 2025 | 0.0% |  |

## Common questions

### What was IBIT's worst drawdown?

IBIT's deepest decline since it began trading in 2024 was 53.3%, from October 2025 to June 2026. It has not yet climbed back to that peak. Because IBIT launched in January 2024, that record does not include the dot-com bust, the 2008 financial crisis or eight other sell-offs.

### What were IBIT's best and worst years?

Over one full calendar years, IBIT's best year was 2025, when it returned -6.4%. Its worst was 2025, with a return of -6.4%.

### What are the best alternatives to IBIT?

None of the 15 popular alternatives we compared outperformed IBIT in at least 3 of 5 timeframes, which says more about IBIT's strength than about its alternatives.

## More research

- [SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/gld)
- [Strategy (MSTR) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/mstr)
- [Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/gbtc)
- [Coinbase Global (COIN) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/coin)
- [Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/schd)
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- [Alphabet (GOOG) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/goog)
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- [Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/vti)
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## Explore further

- Full page with charts: https://easycompare.io/research/ibit
- All research pages: https://easycompare.io/llms.txt
- Compare the entire market against IBIT live: https://betterthanspy.com/?b=IBIT&utm_source=easycompare&utm_medium=research