The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY is the world's largest and arguably the most popular exchange-traded fund, with a whopping $630 billion in assets under management.

What happened: Launched in Jan. 1993, the SPY was also the first ETF to list on U.S.-based exchanges. It tracks the performance of the widely popular S&P 500 Index, holding a portfolio comprising all 500 companies in the index.

Naturally, over such a long period, the ETF shares have gained tremendously, up roughly 1,273.15% since the launch.

However, the debut year wasn’t as exciting. In a year from its launch, the ETF grew from $43.61 to $47.38, representing an increase of 8.6%.

Initial interest in the ETF was poor, and the fund was almost closed before investors started welcoming the idea of using ETFs as investment vehicles.

See Also: Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev Reveals What He’s ‘Most Excited’ About As Crypto Revenue Skyrockets 8X, Stock Surges 15% After Hours

In contrast, BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF IBIT, the world's largest cryptocurrency-based fund, smashed industry records in its debut year.

The investment vehicle, which exposes investors to the price of the world's biggest cryptocurrency Bitcoin BTC/USD, amassed a record $50 billion in assets under management within the first year. 

Additionally, IBIT shares rose nearly 115% in the debut year, making it one of the most successful launches in ETF history.

IBIT has $55 billion in assets under management as of this writing. Though still far behind SPY’s achievements, leading ETF expert Eric Balchunas believed that IBIT could outperform the King ETF in the years to come, but the process would take a "long time."

Price Action: Shares of Robinhood soared 15.3% in after-hours trading, after closing 4.82% higher at $55.91 during Wednesday's trading session, according to data from Benzinga Pro. 

Photo via Shutterstock

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