For most investors, diversification is a plus. Spreading your portfolio across multiple sectors and assets can smooth out some of the volatility in one part of the market as you fall back on the stability of another.
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Of course, sometimes volatility can be a good thing when your investments are breaking out to the upside.
The following list of the best-performing ETFs of 2024 is limited to funds with more than $100 million in assets under management. Furthermore, none use risky “leveraged” investing strategies that are designed to deliver double or triple the returns of various indexes though complex derivatives or other similar approaches.
Here are 2024’s 10 best-performing ETFs:
| ETF | Expense Ratio | Assets Under Management | 2024 Performance |
| Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF (ticker: BLOK) | 0.76% | $943 million | 44.7% |
| VanEck Digital Transformation ETF (DAPP) | 0.51% | $204.1 million | 44.9% |
| Bitwise Crypto Industry Innovators ETF (BITQ) | 0.85% | $220 million | 45.7% |
| Defiance Quantum ETF (QTUM) | 0.40% | $776 million | 50.5% |
| MicroSectors FANG+ ETN (FNGS) | 0.58% | $402 million | 52.0% |
| Global X MSCI Argentina ETF (ARGT) | 0.59% | $718.9 million | 63.4% |
| Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF (MAGS) | 0.29% | $1.0 billion | 63.9% |
| ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) | 0.95% | $2.8 billion | 104.5% |
| Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) | 1.5% | $21 billion | 113.8% |
| YieldMax NVDA Option Income Strategy ETF (NVDY) | 1.01% | $1.4 billion | 114.2% |
Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF (BLOK)
Expense ratio: 0.76%, or $76 annually on every $10,000 invested Assets under management: $943 million YTD performance: +44.7%
Bitcoin- and crypto-related assets enjoyed a fantastic run in 2024. BLOK is one of several plays on that trend, with a blockchain-focused ETF featuring about 45 components that are looking to play this innovative and disruptive way of transforming data and communications. For those unfamiliar, blockchain is a publicly distributed database that keeps a growing list of records, or “blocks,” in a secure but very accessible manner.
Cryptocurrencies are built on the blockchain, but there are also other potential applications, too. As such, BLOK includes the more intuitive blockchain plays in the digital asset space like Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN) and Robinhood Markets Inc. (HOOD), as well as more tangential plays like web3 financial services firm Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd. (OTC: BRPHF). If you’re intellectually interested in the potential of digital assets and blockchain but skeptical of individual currencies like Bitcoin or Ether, this may be a way to bet on the underlying technology instead.
VanEck Digital Transformation ETF (DAPP)
Expense ratio: 0.51% Assets under management: $204.1 million YTD performance: +44.9%
A highly focused fund with only about 20 total components, DAPP is an ETF that is designed to track the performance of companies that are participating in the digital assets economy. As such, the portfolio is split roughly 50/50 between the tech sector and financial services companies with a crypto or blockchain bent. Top holdings at present include digital asset exchange Coinbase and crypto-focused firm MicroStrategy Inc. (MSTR). There’s always risk with a short list of holdings focused on a very specific corner of the market, but DAPP was certainly on the right side of the trade in 2024.
Bitwise Crypto Industry Innovators ETF (BITQ)
Expense ratio: 0.85% Assets under management: $220 million YTD performance: +45.7%
The path to outperformance generally means putting more eggs in fewer baskets. That’s a risky endeavor because if you guess wrong then your eggs wind up broken. But in 2024, those who went “all in” on crypto were richly rewarded thanks to Bitcoin more than doubling across the year.
BITQ is a fund designed to capitalize on a broad uptrend for the crypto industry, with a portfolio of about 30 holdings that include crypto exchanges, digital asset managers and other publicly traded stocks with a crypto-related bent. To be clear, this is not a 1-to-1 play on Bitcoin, as the fund only rose about half as much as the leading digital currency. However, a rising tide does lift all boats — and with 30 of the leading crypto industry stocks in its portfolio, the BITQ ETF ranks as one of the best ETFs of 2024.
Defiance Quantum ETF (QTUM)
Expense ratio: 0.40% Assets under management: $776 million YTD performance: +50.5%
Quantum computing is a megatrend that investors are very interested in lately, and QTUM is one of the leading ways to play the leading publicly traded stocks that are pushing this disruptive technology forward. For those unfamiliar, this trend encompasses machine learning, high-powered cloud computing, and other transformative computing technologies. This ETF tracks approximately 70 stocks across all market capitalizations and geographies that are exposed to this trend, including D-Wave Quantum Inc. (QBTS) and Rigetti Computing Inc. (RGTI). Admittedly, these are small and often unprofitable tech stocks with a lot of risk. But considering the high potential and strong returns of this stock in 2024, QTUM may be a fund worth watching going forward.
MicroSectors FANG+ ETN (FNGS)
Expense ratio: 0.58% Assets under management: $402 million YTD performance: +52.0%
This fund from boutique ETF provider MicroSectors is linked to a small group of highly traded technology growth stocks. This includes the five core “FAANG” stocks — Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. (META), Apple Inc. (AAPL), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), Netflix Inc. (NFLX) and Google parent Alphabet Inc. (GOOG, GOOGL) plus another five actively traded technology growth stocks that are nearly as large and popular, such as cybersecurity leader CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (CRWD). That short list of 10 stocks doesn’t provide much diversification, but this fund delivered in 2024 as the tech sector soared in a “risk-on” environment for growth-oriented companies like these.
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Global X MSCI Argentina ETF (ARGT)
Expense ratio: 0.59% Assets under management: $718.9 million YTD performance: +63.4%
For those who may not be the best at geography, it’s worth noting that Argentina is the eighth-largest nation in the world, ranking right behind India in terms of size. It has admittedly had economic and political challenges over the years, including a roughly 10% decline in gross domestic product during the pandemic of 2020. However, with forecasts of a 5% growth rate for the nation in 2025 and a far cooler inflation outlook, the region seems to be back on track — and as a result, this country-specific ETF from Global X has been on a heck of a run. Top holdings at present include Latin America’s e-commerce leader MercadoLibre Inc. (MELI) and local energy giant YPF S.A. (YPF).
Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF (MAGS)
Expense ratio: 0.29% Assets under management: $1.0 billion YTD returns: +63.9%
Diversification may be nice for low-risk investors, but MAGS proves that going “all in” on a focused strategy is one of the most effective ways to harness outperformance. This ETF has a portfolio made from just seven industry icons — Nvidia Corp. (NVDA), Google, Tesla Inc. (TSLA), Amazon, Meta and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT). You may wonder why you couldn’t just buy those seven stocks directly if you’re so hot on these names … which, by the way, you can. But enough investors are looking for a simple one-stop shop to invest in the leading tech companies that this Roundhill fund has gathered up a significant amount of assets. And thanks to the big returns of these seven standouts, MAGS ranks as one of the best-performing ETFs of 2024.
ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO)
Expense ratio: 0.95% Assets under management: $2.8 billion YTD performance: +104.5%
The oldest Bitcoin-linked ETF on Wall Street, BITO launched in 2021 to offer an exchange-traded way to invest in Bitcoin futures. To be clear, this is not direct investment in Bitcoin but rather in derivatives that go up or down in part based on sentiment about the future value of Bitcoin. Though not a 1-to-1 investment in crypto, the derivatives held by BITO still go up as the general environment for Bitcoin remains favorable — and considering the cryptocurrency’s rise of about 119.6% in 2024, it’s not surprising this ProShares fund ranks as one of the best ETFs of 2024.
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC)
Expense ratio: 1.5% Assets under management: $21 billion YTD performance: +113.8%
Speaking of Bitcoin investments, this Grayscale fund also ranks toward the top of the list of all ETFs this year. At the start of 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved Bitcoin ETFs tied directly to the digital currency in addition to funds tied to derivatives like futures or options contracts. This Grayscale fund was a first-mover in that category, and while it has been eclipsed by other similar funds that offer a direct approach to crypto as well as a lower fee structure, the total performance the total performance of GBTC puts it on top of the pile of so-called spot Bitcoin ETFs.
YieldMax NVDA Option Income Strategy ETF (NVDY)
Expense ratio: 1.01% Assets under management: $1.4 billion YTD performance: +114.2% (total return with distributions included)
The winner among the best-performing ETFs of 2024 is NVDY, a focused fund that invests in chipmaker Nvidia by owning shares and executing an options strategy that sells covered call options on the stock. The stock itself rose around 170% or so last year, but this ETF is up less than that because it is also linked to derivatives on the stock designed to generate monthly paydays from options contracts. While this strategy caps the upside, it also limits the downside — which is one of the reasons that NVDY finished 2024 with strong gains even though NVDA stock has slipped since November.
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10 Best-Performing ETFs of 2024 originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 01/02/25: This story was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
