Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
ARKB vs IBIT: Tracking, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, ARKB finished 0.13 of a percentage point behind Bitcoin and IBIT 0.16 behind.
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Net assets: $1.9bn on Jun 30, 2026 for Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, and $65.4bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF.
ARKB over 1 year: fund −28.42%, Bitcoin −28.30%, 0.13 pts behind Bitcoin. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
Data to Oct 28, 2026.IBIT over 1 year: fund −28.45%, Bitcoin −28.30%, 0.16 pts behind Bitcoin. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
Data to Oct 28, 2026.Pair scorecard
ARKB costs 0.04 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.1 points.
| Measure | ARKB | IBIT |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −28.4% | −28.5% |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Bitcoin | Bitcoin |
| Against Bitcoin, same days | 0.1% behind | 0.2% behind |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.21% | 0.25% |
| Net assets, ARKB as of Jun 30, 2026 and IBIT as of Oct 27, 2026 | $1.9bn | $65.4bn |
| Reports to the SEC on | 10-K, not N-PORT | |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
How much of its coin's move it captured, after costs, ranked against 26 spot crypto trusts with a full year. 100 is best. How it is computed
A percentile among the 26 spot crypto trusts with a full year. Share of the coin's own price growth a holder kept; funds on different coins are ranked together. All crypto ETFs ranked by it →
Side by side
As of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
Window by window
| Total return | The coin over the same days | Difference, percentage points | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | ARKB | IBIT | ARKB | IBIT | ARKB | IBIT |
| 1 month | −2.2% | −2.3% | −2.2% | −2.2% | 0.0 pts | −0.1 pts |
| 3 months | +28.3% | +28.2% | +28.3% | +28.3% | 0.0 pts | −0.2 pts |
| 6 months | +7.9% | +7.9% | +7.9% | +7.9% | 0.0 pts | 0.0 pts |
| 1 year | −28.4% | −28.5% | −28.3% | −28.3% | −0.1 pts | −0.2 pts |
| Since each listedARKB Jan 2024 · IBIT Jan 2024 | +73.4% | +73.3% | +76.1% | +76.1% | −1.6% of its growth | −1.6% of its growth |
The same coin, two trusts
ARKB 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, ARKB finished 0.13 of a percentage point behind Bitcoin and IBIT 0.16 of a percentage point behind, so ARKB kept more of what holding the coin gave, by 0.03 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 number.
ARKB and IBIT are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows (similar). Both follow Bitcoin.
- One-year total return (similar). Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 ARKB returned −28.4% and IBIT −28.5% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 0.1 points.
- Cost (similar). ARKB charges 0.21% of assets a year and IBIT 0.25%, a gap of 0.04 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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ARKB
ARKB 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 Oct 28, 2026, Bitcoin moved −28.3% and ARKB returned −28.4%. That leaves it 0.13 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 number on this page the sponsor does not publish itself. ARKB charges 0.21% 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.
IBIT
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 Oct 28, 2026, Bitcoin moved −28.3% and IBIT returned −28.5%. That leaves it 0.16 of a percentage point behind. IBIT charges 0.25% a year and finished 0.2% behind Bitcoin, so the fee is almost the whole of the difference.
Questions people ask
- Which tracked Bitcoin more closely, ARKB or IBIT?
- Over the window to Oct 28, 2026, ARKB finished 0.13 of a percentage point behind Bitcoin and IBIT 0.16 of a percentage point behind, so ARKB tracked it more closely, by 0.03 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 ARKB 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.
Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.
How this is computed
It is a place in a set, not a rating or a recommendation.
Every number is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, ARKB against IBIT, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/crypto/arkb-vs-ibit
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). ARKB against IBIT. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/crypto/arkb-vs-ibit
[ARKB against IBIT (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/crypto/arkb-vs-ibit)
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