The US ETF market achieved a historic “triple crown” in 2025, setting records in inflows ($1.4 trillion), new launches (1,100+), and trading volume ($57.9 trillion). This is the first time all three metrics hit records simultaneously since 2021.

Three consecutive years of double-digit S&P 500 gains powered the rally. But Wall Street is starting to ask: what comes next?

The Ghost of 2022

That precedent carries a warning. The year following the 2021 triple crown saw the S&P 500 plunge 19% amid the Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hikes. The tech-driven rally that fueled ETF inflows reversed sharply, with both inflows and launches slowing in 2022.

The parallels are hard to ignore. In 2021, exuberance around tech stocks drove record demand. In 2025, AI spending has dominated while skepticism is mounting. Since October, the S&P 500 has traded sideways as Wall Street questions the returns on Big Tech’s AI capex.

Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, warned: “Because of how perfect this year seemed to be for ETFs, you kind of want to brace for it.” He suggested a “reality check” could come in 2026 through market volatility or leveraged ETF blowups—risks already demonstrated by GraniteShares’ 3x Short AMD ETP, which lost 88.9% in a single day and was liquidated in October.

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The Crypto ETF Rotation

Within the broader ETF boom, a striking divergence is playing out in cryptocurrency funds.

BlackRock’s IBIT attracted $25.4 billion despite a -9.6% return—the only negative performer among the top 10 flow leaders. Balchunas called it “Boomers putting on a HODL clinic.” But the tide turned after Bitcoin’s 30% drop from its October high. IBIT recorded five consecutive weeks of outflows totaling $2.7 billion. Ethereum ETFs followed with seven straight days of outflows in December, totaling $685 million.

The opposite emerged in newly launched altcoin ETFs. US spot XRP ETFs, debuting November 13, recorded 28 consecutive trading days of net inflows—unmatched by any crypto ETF at launch. Cumulative inflows reached $1.14 billion with zero outflow days. Still, the daily pace—mostly $10-50 million—pales compared to Bitcoin ETFs, which regularly drew $500 million or more in their early days.

Solana ETFs attracted $750 million despite SOL’s 53% price decline—though unlike XRP, they experienced several outflow days in late November and early December.

	BTC	ETH	XRP	SOL
YTD Inflows	$25.4B	$10.3B	$1.14B	$750M
Dec 1-24	-$629M	-$512M	+$470M	+$132M
Notable	5-week outflows	7-day outflows	28-day inflow streak	Inflows despite -53%

December crystallized this rotation. Through December 24, Bitcoin ETFs shed $629 million, while Ethereum lost $512 million; XRP added $470 million, and Solana gained $132 million.

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Structural Shift or Temporary Adjustment?

Those arguing for structural change point to regulatory clarity—XRP’s SEC lawsuit concluded in August with a $125 million settlement, classifying it as a non-security. Utility narratives are also gaining traction: XRP’s cross-border payments and Solana’s DeFi ecosystem offer applications beyond “digital gold.”

Skeptics caution that XRP and SOL’s consistent inflows may reflect a “honeymoon effect” typical of new ETF launches. Despite record ETF inflows, XRP remains 50% below its July peak, and SOL has dropped 53% since October—a disconnect some attribute to year-end profit-taking and to whales distributing holdings offsetting institutional demand.

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2026 Outlook

With dozens of crypto ETF applications still awaiting SEC review, more altcoin products are expected in 2026.

The ETF market’s “perfect year” will be remembered alongside correction warnings. But the rotation within crypto ETFs suggests institutional investors are becoming selective—moving beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum toward assets with regulatory clarity and real-world utility. Whether this trend continues will be a key indicator for the broader market’s direction.

The post US ETF Market Hits Triple Crown While BTC Bleeds and XRP Soars appeared first on BeInCrypto.

NVIDIA has agreed to pay approximately $20 billion to acquire assets from artificial intelligence chip startup Groq, marking the company’s largest transaction on record and continuing its strategy of absorbing potential competitors before they can challenge its market dominance.

The chipmaker’s latest licensing deal mirrors a similar transaction just three months ago, reinforcing the narrative that decentralized AI infrastructure may offer the only alternative to Nvidia’s growing dominance.

Threefold Premium in Three Months with Trump Jr. Connection

The deal closed just three months after Groq raised $750 million at a $6.9 billion valuation—a round that included BlackRock, Samsung, Cisco, and 1789 Capital, where Donald Trump Jr. serves as a partner. Nvidia is acquiring all of the company’s assets substantially, except its cloud computing business, though Groq framed the transaction as a “non-exclusive licensing agreement.”

Groq CEO Jonathan Ross, a former Google engineer who helped create the search giant’s Tensor Processing Unit, will join Nvidia along with president Sunny Madra and other senior executives. The startup will continue operating independently under CFO Simon Edwards as its new chief executive.

A Repeating Playbook

The Groq transaction follows a pattern Nvidia established just three months earlier. In September, the company paid over $900 million to hire Enfabrica’s CEO and employees while licensing the startup’s technology. Both deals use licensing structures rather than outright acquisitions, potentially avoiding the antitrust scrutiny that blocked Nvidia’s $40 billion bid for Arm Holdings in 2022.

The Kobeissi Letter summarized Nvidia’s approach bluntly: “We will buy you before you can compete with us.”

Nvidia's newest strategy:

"We will buy you before you can compete with us."

There has never been a company like Nvidia. https://t.co/wsbuAgIqyM

— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) December 24, 2025

Technical Edge and Competitive Pressure

Groq’s Language Processing Unit uses on-chip SRAM rather than external DRAM, enabling what the company claims is up to 10x better energy efficiency. This architecture excels at real-time inference but limits model size—a tradeoff Nvidia can now explore within its broader ecosystem.

The timing is notable. Google recently unveiled its seventh-generation TPU, codenamed Ironwood, and released Gemini 3, trained entirely on TPUs, to top benchmark rankings. Nvidia responded on X: “We’re delighted by Google’s success… NVIDIA is a generation ahead of the industry—it’s the only platform that runs every AI model.” When incumbents start issuing such reassurance statements, competitive pressure is clearly mounting.

Implications for Decentralized AI

While the deal has no direct impact on cryptocurrency markets, it reinforces the narrative driving decentralized AI computing projects. Platforms like io.net position themselves as alternatives to centralized AI infrastructure.

“People can put their own supply onto a network, whether that’s data centers or yourself with your laptop, contributing your available GPU power, and getting fairly compensated for it using tokenomics,” Jack Collier, io.net’s Chief Growth Officer, told BeInCrypto. The platform claims enterprise clients, including Leonardo.ai and UC Berkeley, have achieved significant cost savings.

However, the gap between narrative and reality remains wide. Nvidia’s acquisition of Groq’s low-latency technology further extends its technical lead, making it harder for any alternative to offer competitive performance.

The transaction also raises questions about independent AI chip development. Cerebras Systems, another Nvidia competitor preparing an IPO, may eventually face similar pressure. Whether it can remain independent or succumb to Nvidia’s financial gravity remains to be seen.

The post Nvidia Absorbs Another Rival for $20B, Boosting Decentralized AI appeared first on BeInCrypto.