BlackRock has raised its stake in its spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), IBIT, owning 430,770 shares worth more than $17 million as of October 31.
This figure shows a big increase of 117% from the 198,874 shares reported on July 31 and is over ten times the 43,000 shares noted in the first quarter of the year.
The IBIT is included in BlackRock’s Global Allocation Fund, which spreads investments across US and international stocks, bonds, and short-term securities. However, Bitcoin shares make up just 0.1% of the fund’s total assets, which are $16.5 billion.
Nate Geraci, CEO of the ETF Store, highlighted the impressive growth of the IBIT. It is now one of the 35 largest ETFs by assets, out of more than 3,900 funds, and has outperformed well-known ETFs like the iShares MSCI EAFE and Vanguard Total World Stock ETFs in under a year. Since it started, IBIT has brought in over $37 billion in net inflows, far exceeding the second-largest ETF, Fidelity’s FBTC, which received $11.8 billion.
IBIT currently has 527,284 BTC, worth more than $50 billion at Bitcoin’s price of $95,753.77. IBIT has seen significant growth in inflows, making it an important player in the US Bitcoin ETF market. It has contributed to a total of $35.4 billion in inflows, exceeding the total assets of gold ETFs.
