Blackrock’s Ishares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), has garnered the attention of 414 institutional investors in just under three months, as stated in filings submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This achievement has been described by senior Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas as “mind-boggling” and “highly rare” for newly launched ETFs. In comparison, other recently launched ETFs have significantly fewer institutional investors.
The first-quarter 13F filings with the SEC reveal that 414 institutions have declared their holdings in Blackrock’s IBIT. Institutional investment managers overseeing more than $100 million in assets are required by the SEC to file Form 13F to disclose their securities holdings.
Balchunas expressed his astonishment at this achievement, noting that it surpasses all previous records. He emphasized that even having 20 institutional holders for a newly launched ETF is considered “highly rare.” Other spot bitcoin ETFs launched in January, such as the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB), the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), and the ARK 21shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB), have not been able to attract as many institutional investors as Blackrock’s IBIT.
The largest institutional holder of IBIT shares is Millennium Management LLC, which possesses 20,859,447 shares valued at approximately $844 million as of March 31. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC is the second-largest institutional holder with 6,128,450 shares worth about $248 million. The U.S. State of Wisconsin Investment Board holds the sixth-largest position with 2,450,400 shares valued at roughly $99 million.
In comparison, the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund has 235 institutional holders, the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF has 98 institutional holders, and the ARK 21shares Bitcoin ETF has 75 institutional holders. Notably, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) boasts an extensive list of 619 institutional holders. However, Grayscale converted GBTC from a bitcoin trust to a spot bitcoin ETF in January, and many institutions already held GBTC prior to this conversion.
As of May 16, IBIT held 276,190 BTC, valued at over $18 billion. Throughout the week, U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs experienced daily inflows totaling $948.3 million. Grayscale’s GBTC saw a net daily outflow on May 14, amounting to $50.9 million. In contrast, IBIT recorded inflows of $131.8 million, Fidelity’s FBTC saw inflows of $344.5 million, and Ark’s spot bitcoin ETF received inflows of $243.7 million.
In March, Blackrock CEO Larry Fink expressed his optimism about the long-term viability of bitcoin, stating that he is “very bullish” on the cryptocurrency. He also highlighted that Blackrock’s spot bitcoin ETF is the fastest-growing ETF in the history of ETFs, emphasizing that “nothing has gained assets as fast as IBIT.”
What are your thoughts on Blackrock’s achievement of attracting 414 institutional investors for its spot bitcoin ETF? Let us know in the comments section below.
