BlackRock’s Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, the iShares Bitcoin Trust, or IBIT, might be one of the firm’s youngest ETFs, but it’s already flexing its muscles with the investment giant’s older funds.
Launched just last year, IBIT has grown into BlackRock’s third-largest revenue-generator across BlackRock’s vast ETF catalogue that includes almost 1,200 funds.
Eric Balchunas, Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst, noted that IBIT is only about $9 billion away from the top spot, held by its Russell 1000 tracker IWF.
“Just another insane stat for a one-and-a-half-year-old, literally, an infant, ETF,” Balchunas posted on X.
The speed is staggering. Most ETFs take years to amass meaningful flow, but BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF has achieved top-tier status in under two.
It also underscores the rapid shift at the $11.5 trillion asset manager. Almost seven years ago, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said the firm’s clients had “zero interest” in cryptocurrencies.
Now, its Bitcoin ETF is outearning its flagship fund, the S&P 500 tracker called IVV.
$76 billion in Bitcoin
There’s a reason for this.
The fees investors pay for exposure to IBIT are significantly higher than other BlackRock ETFs. At 0.25%, it’s almost nine times greater than the IVV ETF. In fact, most traditional ETFs charge between 0.03% to 0.1%.
And it’s those comparatively higher fees that could propel IBIT to the top of the ladder.
Only two BlackRock funds outearn IBIT: IWF, and EFA US, which tracks stocks in Europe, Australia and Asia.
Despite being $20 billion behind IWF, which has a 0.19% fee, the BlackRock Bitcoin ETF requires fewer assets per unit of the fund to catch.
Demand for IBIT hasn’t blinked, and the market data shows the fund is thriving.
BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF commands more than half of the total US Bitcoin ETF market in terms of total net assets held by issuers, Sosovalue data shows. Fink’s firm holds more than $76 billion in Bitcoin.
IBIT’s growth is part of a broader success for Bitcoin ETFs in the US in general.
Bitcoin ETFs amassed $107 billion in assets under management last year, becoming the most successful ETF launch in the US ever. That value has increased to $137 billion, which is more than 6% of Bitcoin’s market value.
Bitcoin ETFs have become a conduit for institutional exposure, providing a catalyst for the underlying asset to soar in price.
