BlackRock’s Ishares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has set a bar in the investment world. It is currently recognized as the most extraordinary exchange trading fund (ETF) on the market.
IBIT was able to collect more than $50 billion in assets in just 11 months starting in the January quarter. This is an astonishing record for a fund in ETF history. The Bitcoin Fund in BlackRock was the fastest to reach this mark.
This shocked almost everyone in the sector. “IBIT’s growth is unprecedented,” says James Sefert, analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.
“It’s the fastest ETFs that reach most milestones, faster than other ETFs in any asset class.”
Assuming it is current size, the ETF alone could have been raked at a fee of $112 million at a 0.25% cost ratio.
IBIT was part of a further evolution of the Bitcoin space. The world’s first and largest digital asset passed the $100,000 bar for the first time in 2024. Many believe this development is a direct result of Spot-Bitcoin ETFs like IBIT.
The incredible size of BlackRock within the financial industry is giving Bitcoin the credibility of a $11 trillion asset, a lack of traditional financial sector.
Before this, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink believed that Bitcoin was a means of money laundering. Now he calls it “digital gold.” That was important in the perverts that caused Bitcoin to boost the realm of legitimate investment.
BlackRock’s Islands Division manages over 1,400 ETFs around the world, but there’s nothing like the Islands Bitcoin Trust. ETF Store president Nate Geraci calls it the biggest launch in the history of exchange trading funds.
Eric Balknas, another senior analyst at Bloomberg ETF, noted that ETFs have an asset base that is roughly equal to the cumulative amount of over 50 European ETFs that have existed for decades.
Not only is the speed of launch, but IBIT’s success can also be attributed to trading volume. From a daily trading perspective, IBIT accounts for more than half of all Bitcoin ETFs and has done so since the fund launch.
Recently, the total amount of options linked to it has grown on average to $1.7 billion each day, with a huge concentration of exchange trading fund derivatives.
Related: BlackRock’s IBIT Sees Record Trading Volume of $4.1 billion in a Day
Getting approval for Spot-Bitcoin ETFs in the US market has proven to be a boring journey.
Several proposals, such as the 2013 Winklevoss Twins application, were shot down by the control group, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
However, the legal victory by Grayscale Investments in 2023 has proven to help create the necessary conditions for this approval.
When BlackRock entered the market in 2024, it brought ETF expertise. In addition to Fidelity, Vaneck and others, BlackRock launched its first US spot Bitcoin ETF. Together, these funds currently manage more than $100 billion in assets.
Despite the competition, IBit is a clear winner. It has grown very fast and has passed the Gold ETF of BlackRock, the second largest gold fund in the world. Some believe IBIT will surpass SPDR Gold shares, the largest gold ETF by 2025.
Beyond the numbers, IBIT stocks helped justify Bitcoin as an asset class.
According to Balchunas, BlackRock recommends 1-2% allocation to Bitcoin in its diverse portfolio. This is music to the ears of institutional investors and retailers, many of whom were previously skeptics, but now they want to be exposed to rare digital assets.
Analysts believe the fund had a major impact on Bitcoin prices. Bitcoin has risen 118% since IBIT was launched. There is evidence suggesting that prices are driven by a stable inflow into IBIT, and the leak was seen just nine days after its release.
IBIT changed the ETF game and set up a bar for future funds. According to Balchunas, IBIT has reached $50 billion in five years over BlackRock’s previous record holder, the Ishares Core MSCI Eafe ETF.
Behind ETF’s success is a bright future for options. Since options trading began in November, IBIT options have passed industry benchmarks and Fidelity and Grayscale Bitcoin ETFs.