Data as of .
GBTC vs IBIT: which tracked its coin?
Over the year, GBTC finished 0.36 of a percentage point behind Bitcoin and IBIT 0.48 ahead.
ETFIQ Coin Capture Score: IBIT scores higher
How much of what holding the coin gave did a holder of the fund keep?
A percentile among the 24 spot crypto ETPs with a full year. It is a position in a set, not a rating, and neither end of it is a recommendation. All crypto ETFs ranked by it · How it is computed
The same coin, two trusts
GBTC and IBIT hold the same asset. Both are 1933 Act trusts holding Bitcoin through a custodian, so neither has a portfolio to compare: the whole of each fund is one line. Over the same days, GBTC finished 0.36 of a percentage point behind Bitcoin and IBIT 0.48 of a percentage point ahead, so GBTC kept more of what holding the coin gave, by 0.12 of a percentage point. That gap is the fee, the custody, the creation and redemption friction and the market’s pricing of the shares, compounded into one figure. GBTC has 1,470 more days of record than IBIT, and a longer record is a longer window over which a cost can show itself.
Performance, window by window
| Window | Total return | The coin over the same days | Difference, percentage points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GBTC | IBIT | GBTC | IBIT | GBTC | IBIT | |
| 1 month | +21.9% | +22.0% | +21.8% | +21.8% | +0.1 pts | +0.2 pts |
| 3 months | +21.1% | +21.4% | +21.5% | +21.5% | −0.4 pts | −0.1 pts |
| 6 months | +7.8% | +8.4% | +8.8% | +8.8% | −1.1 pts | −0.4 pts |
| 1 year | −33.5% | −32.7% | −33.2% | −33.2% | −0.4 pts | +0.5 pts |
| Since each listed | +649.0% | +64.4% | +1008.7% | +66.6% | −32.4% of its growth | −2.2 pts |
| GBTC Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF Holds Bitcoin through a custodian, listed Jan 2, 2020 | IBIT iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF Holds Bitcoin through a custodian, listed Jan 11, 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Sponsor | Grayscale | iShares |
| Holds | Bitcoin | Bitcoin |
| Net assets | $8.1bn, balance sheet of Jun 30, 2026 | $53.4bn, balance sheet of Mar 31, 2026 |
| Sponsor’s fee | 1.50% | 0.25% |
| Fee waiver | none | reduced to 0.12%, first $5.0 billion of assets |
| Staking | the chain has none | the chain has none |
| Listed | Jan 2, 2020 | Jan 11, 2024 |
| Days since listing | 2,444 days | 974 days |
| Days it has traded | 1,682 | 669 |
| Days it closed unchanged | 12 | 2 |
| Quoted | on an exchange, every trading day | on an exchange, every trading day |
| Fund returned, 1 year or since launch | −33.5% | −32.7% |
| The coin over the same days | −33.2% | −33.2% |
| Difference, percentage points | −0.4 pts | +0.5 pts |
| Fund returned since it listed | +649.0% | +64.4% |
| Difference since it listed | −32.4% of its growth | −2.2 pts |
| Price | $59.77 | $43.77 |
GBTC in plain words
GBTC 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. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026, Bitcoin moved −33.2% and GBTC returned −33.5%. That leaves it 0.36 of a percentage point behind. 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 figure on this page the sponsor does not publish itself. GBTC charges 1.50% a year and finished 0.4% behind Bitcoin, so the fee is more than the whole 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.
IBIT in plain words
IBIT 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. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026, Bitcoin moved −33.2% and IBIT returned −32.7%. That leaves it 0.48 of a percentage point ahead. IBIT charges 0.25% a year and still finished 0.5% ahead of Bitcoin, which a fee cannot do on its own. On a chain with nothing to stake, a fund cannot earn its way past the asset it holds: what moved is what the market paid for the shares.
Questions people ask
- Which tracked Bitcoin more closely, GBTC or IBIT?
- Over the window to Sep 11, 2026, GBTC finished 0.36 of a percentage point behind Bitcoin and IBIT 0.48 of a percentage point ahead, so GBTC tracked it more closely, by 0.12 of a percentage point. 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 together.
- Do GBTC or IBIT pay a staking yield?
- Bitcoin is a proof of work chain, so there is nothing to stake and no fund holding it can pay a staking yield.
- What is the difference between GBTC and IBIT?
- Both hold Bitcoin through a custodian and both trade on an exchange, so what separates them is what each costs a holder over time. GBTC is sponsored by Grayscale and listed Jan 2, 2020; IBIT by iShares, listed Jan 11, 2024.
- Which is cheaper, GBTC or IBIT?
- GBTC charges 1.50% a year and IBIT charges 0.25%, so IBIT is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Other comparisons
Where these figures came from
ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.
Cite this page. ETFIQ, GBTC against IBIT, data as of Sep 11, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/crypto/GBTC-IBIT Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.