BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Outperforms S&P 500 Despite Record Drawdown

BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), the largest spot Bitcoin ETF, has outperformed Vanguard's S&P 500 ETF (VOO) since its launch in January 2024, despite a 53% drawdown. IBIT returned 67.74% by August 31, compared to VOO's 66.14%, a difference of just 1.60 percentage points. Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted that the result was surprising given Bitcoin's prolonged downturn from October 2024 to July 2025.

The similarity in headline returns ends when considering the path investors took to get there. IBIT's worst peak-to-trough decline reached 53.30% between October 6, 2025, and June 30, 2026. VOO's maximum drawdown over the comparison period was 18.69%, from February 19 through April 8, 2025.

Bitcoin's price history explains much of that gap. Its value surged to a record high of around $126,000 in 2025 following Donald Trump's election victory but later fell as low as roughly $58,000 this year before recovering to around $77,000. This volatility has not stopped Wall Street from building infrastructure around the asset.