Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
BTC vs GLD: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, BTC returned −28.4% to GLD's +2.5%, and BTC charges 0.15% to GLD's 0.40%.
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Net assets: $3.2bn on Jun 30, 2026 for Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF, and $135.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR Gold Shares.
Pair scorecard
BTC costs 0.25 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 30.9 points.
| Measure | BTC | GLD |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −28.4% | +2.5% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 24.7%, high on Jan 29, 2026 | |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Bitcoin | Gold |
| Against Bitcoin, same days | 0.1% behind | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.40% |
| Net assets, BTC as of Jun 30, 2026 and GLD as of Oct 27, 2026 | $3.2bn | $135.8bn |
| Reports to the SEC on | 10-K, not N-PORT | |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
Side by side
BTC and GLD on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
BTC and GLD do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. BTC follows Bitcoin and GLD follows Gold.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 BTC returned −28.4% and GLD +2.5% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 30.9 points.
- Cost. BTC charges 0.15% of assets a year and GLD 0.40%, a gap of 0.25 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, Bitcoin moved −28.3% and BTC returned −28.4%. That leaves it 0.09 of a percentage point behind.
BTC holds Bitcoin through a custodian and trades on an exchange, so a holder gets the coin’s return inside a brokerage account rather than a wallet. That difference is the fee, the custody cost, the friction of creating and redeeming shares in blocks, and whatever the market paid for the shares rather than for the coin, all of it together. It is the only number on this page the sponsor does not publish itself. BTC charges 0.15% a year and finished 0.1% behind Bitcoin, so the fee is almost the whole of the difference. A spot trust is not a registered investment company. It files a 10-K rather than an N-PORT, and its holding is one line: the Bitcoin it custodies.
Its expense ratio is 0.40% a year, for the three months to Jun 30, 2026, as its 10-Q states.
GLD holds gold. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +2.5% with distributions reinvested, against +2.7% for its benchmark, the price of gold. It sat 24.7% below its high of Jan 29, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Are BTC and GLD in the same category?
- BTC is a spot crypto ETF and GLD is a commodity ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, BTC or GLD?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BTC returned −28.4% and GLD +2.5%.
- Which is cheaper, BTC or GLD?
- BTC is cheaper, by 0.25 percentage points a year. That is about $25 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.
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ETFIQ, BTC against GLD, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/btc-vs-gld
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). BTC against GLD. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/btc-vs-gld
[BTC against GLD (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/btc-vs-gld)
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