Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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Crypto ETFs

BTC vs IBIT: Tracking, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, BTC finished 0.09 of a percentage point behind Bitcoin and IBIT 0.16 behind.

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Net assets: $3.2bn on Jun 30, 2026 for Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF, and $65.4bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF.

At a glance
−28.4%
BTC returned, 1 year
−28.5%
IBIT returned, 1 year
−0.1 pts
BTC against Bitcoin, in percentage points
−0.2 pts
IBIT against Bitcoin, in percentage points
BTC · 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 Within a point of Bitcoin
Within a point of BitcoinBTC over 1 year: fund −28.38%, Bitcoin −28.30%, 0.09 pts behind Bitcoin. Data to Oct 28, 2026.Bitcoin−28.30%BTC−28.38%about level with BitcoinTotal return, 1 year, fund against the coinWithin a point of BitcoinBTC over 1 year: fund −28.38%, Bitcoin −28.30%, 0.09 pts behind Bitcoin. Data to Oct 28, 2026.Bitcoin−28.30%BTC−28.38%about level with BitcoinTotal return, 1 year

BTC over 1 year: fund −28.38%, Bitcoin −28.30%, 0.09 pts behind Bitcoin. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

Data to Oct 28, 2026.
IBIT · 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 Within a point of Bitcoin
Within a point of BitcoinIBIT over 1 year: fund −28.45%, Bitcoin −28.30%, 0.16 pts behind Bitcoin. Data to Oct 28, 2026.Bitcoin−28.30%IBIT−28.45%about level with BitcoinTotal return, 1 year, fund against the coinWithin a point of BitcoinIBIT over 1 year: fund −28.45%, Bitcoin −28.30%, 0.16 pts behind Bitcoin. Data to Oct 28, 2026.Bitcoin−28.30%IBIT−28.45%about level with BitcoinTotal return, 1 year

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

BTC costs 0.10 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.1 points.

BTC vs IBIT: Tracking, Returns & Fees
MeasureBTCIBIT
Return
Total return, 1 year−28.4%−28.5%
Against its benchmark
What it tracksBitcoinBitcoin
Against Bitcoin, same days0.1% behind0.2% behind
Cost and size
Expense ratio0.15%0.25%
Net assets, BTC as of Jun 30, 2026 and IBIT as of Oct 27, 2026$3.2bn$65.4bn
Reports to the SEC on10-K, not N-PORT
Holdings
Holdings in commonnot published
ETFIQ Coin Capture Score · BTC scores higher How much of what holding the coin gave did a holder of the fund keep?
IQ Crypto Score75BTC55.8IBIT

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

1.9, the lowest in this set 98.1, the highest

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 →

Method

Side by side

BTC Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF · Holds Bitcoin through a custodian, first traded Jul 31, 2024 IBIT iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF · Holds Bitcoin through a custodian, first traded Jan 11, 2024
Holds Bitcoin Bitcoin
Net assets, as filed $3.2bn, balance sheet of Jun 30, 2026 $43.4bn, balance sheet of Jun 30, 2026
Sponsor’s fee 0.15% 0.25%
Fee waiver none reduced to 0.12%, first $5.0 billion of assets
Staking the chain has none the chain has none
First traded Jul 31, 2024 Jan 11, 2024
Days since its first trade 819 days 1,021 days
Days it has traded 564 702
Days it closed unchanged 4 2
Quoted on an exchange, every trading day on an exchange, every trading day
Fund returned, 1 year −28.4% −28.5%
The coin over the same days −28.3% −28.3%
Difference, percentage points −0.1 pts −0.2 pts
Fund returned since launch +24.5% +73.3%
Difference since launch −0.5 pts −1.6% of its growth
Price $36.03 $46.14
Net assets, BTC as of Jun 30, 2026 and IBIT as of Oct 27, 2026 $3.2bn $65.4bn

As of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Window by window

Window by window: BTC vs IBIT: Tracking, Returns & Fees
Total returnThe coin over the same daysDifference, percentage points
WindowBTCIBITBTCIBITBTCIBIT
1 month−2.3%−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 pts0.0 pts
1 year−28.4%−28.5%−28.3%−28.3%−0.1 pts−0.2 pts
Since each listedNot the same days: BTC Jul 2024 · IBIT Jan 2024+24.5%+73.3%+25.0%+76.1%−0.5 pts−1.6% of its growth

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The same coin, two trusts

BTC 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, BTC finished 0.09 of a percentage point behind Bitcoin and IBIT 0.16 of a percentage point behind, so BTC kept more of what holding the coin gave, by 0.07 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. IBIT has 202 more days of record than BTC, and a longer record is a longer window over which a cost can show itself.

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-D14C71E0CA

BTC and IBIT are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?

  1. Cost. BTC charges 0.15% of assets a year and IBIT 0.25%, a gap of 0.10 points.
  2. What each follows (similar). Both follow Bitcoin.
  3. One-year total return (similar). Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 BTC returned −28.4% and IBIT −28.5% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 0.1 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund
BTC

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. 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. 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.

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, BTC or IBIT?
Over the window to Oct 28, 2026, BTC finished 0.09 of a percentage point behind Bitcoin and IBIT 0.16 of a percentage point behind, so BTC tracked it more closely, by 0.07 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 BTC 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 BTC 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. BTC is sponsored by Grayscale and first traded Jul 31, 2024; IBIT by iShares, first traded Jan 11, 2024.
Which is cheaper, BTC or IBIT?
BTC charges 0.15% a year and IBIT charges 0.25%, so BTC is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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Sources and dates

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, BTC against IBIT, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/crypto/btc-vs-ibit

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Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.