BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF barely beat the S&P 500 after putting investors through a 53% crash

BlackRock’s Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) has narrowly outperformed the S&P 500 since launch despite subjecting investors to a drawdown nearly three times as deep.

The iShares Bitcoin Trust, or IBIT, returned 67.74% from its Jan. 11, 2024 debut through Aug. 31, compared with 66.14% for Vanguard’s S&P 500 ETF, or VOO, on a total-return basis that reinvests dividends.

That left IBIT ahead by just 1.60 percentage points after Bitcoin surged to a record high and then gave back much of those gains during a prolonged downturn.

“Hard to believe IBIT is beating VOO since inception but it’s true,” Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas wrote Sept. 1, noting that the gap remained narrow.

Balchunas compared IBIT’s path toward a roughly 70% gain to the El Toro roller coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure, while describing VOO’s advance as a walk in the park. He said the result was especially surprising given the bearish mood that dominated Bitcoin from October through July.

IBIT’s narrow lead came with a 53% drawdown

The similarity in headline returns disappears once you consider the path investors took to get there.

IBIT’s worst peak-to-trough decline reached 53.30% between Oct. 6, 2025, and June 30, 2026. VOO’s maximum drawdown over the comparison period was 18.69%, from Feb. 19 through April 8, 2025.