BlackRock’s spot ETF has become the world’s largest Bitcoin fund. It has amassed almost $20 billion in total assets since listing in the US at the beginning of the year. In effect, the fund manager has managed to flip Grayscale.
Since going live, investors have poured in $16.5 billion to IBIT. Conversely, they have withdrawn $17 billion from Grayscale’s fund. Fidelity follows Grayscale and BlackRock right behind, at the third position.
Further elaborating on the latest flip, K33 Research’s Vetle Lunde pointed out,
“BlackRock surpassed Grayscale yesterday, and is now the largest BTC ETF, holding 288,671 BTC. IBIT needed only 96 trading days to close GBTC's huge lead.”
Grayscale launched its Bitcoin Trust more than a decade back. It managed to garner appeal soon, but couldn’t stand the test of time. During the latest maco-bear run, its state started worsening, for it traded at a significant discount when compared to its net asset value. Ultimately, Grayscale opted for a conversion and the SEC green-flagged it.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that BlackRock added its BTC ETF to income and bond-focused funds in the first quarter. At the moment, BlackRock’s Strategic Income Opportunities Fund [BSIIX] holds IBIT shares worth $3.5 million. Alongside, the Strategic Global Bond Fund [MAWIX] holds $485,000 shares.
The Bitcoin fund category also clinched another record recently. They collectively now hold more than 1 million BTC. Along with the new US ETFs, other funds from Germany, Canada, and Hong Kong are also included in the calculation.
In other related news, leverage Ethereum ETFs are expected to hit the market in a few days. Volatility Shares’ 2x Ether ETF [ETHU] will start trading on June 4, making it the first Ether-leveraged ETF product in America. The company previously launched its 2x Bitcoin fund towards the end of H1 2023.
