ETFs
BlackRock’s $20 billion ETF is now the world’s largest Bitcoin fund
(Bloomberg) — BlackRock Inc.’s iShares Bitcoin Trust has become the world’s largest fund for the original cryptocurrency, amassing nearly $20 billion in total assets since its U.S. listing early in the year. year.
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The exchange-traded fund held $19.68 billion in tokens as of Tuesday, dethroning the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust by $19.65 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The third largest bid is Fidelity Investments’ $11.1 billion offering.
The BlackRock and Fidelity Bitcoin ETFs were among nine that debuted on January 11, the same day the more than decade-old Grayscale vehicle was converted into an ETF. The launches were a watershed moment for crypto, making Bitcoin more accessible to investors and spurring a rally in the token to a record $73,798 in March.
The iShares Bitcoin Trust attracted the largest inflow since it went live, $16.5 billion, while investors withdrew $17.7 billion from the Grayscale fund during the same period. Higher fees and exits from arbitrageurs have been cited as possible drivers of capital outflows.
Neither BlackRock nor Grayscale Investments LLC immediately responded to requests for comment outside of normal U.S. business hours. Grayscale intends to launch a clone of its main fund, according to a March regulatory filing, and fees are expected to be lower, a person familiar with the matter said at the time.
The Securities and Exchange Commission reluctantly gave the green light for the first U.S. spot-Bitcoin ETFs in January following a 2023 legal reversal in a case brought by Grayscale.
The company created the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust in 2013 and became known as the largest vehicle of its kind. But shares in the closed-end product sometimes traded at substantial premiums or discounts to their net asset value, prompting Grayscale to push for an ETF conversion to ensure trading at par.
SEC Pivot
Last week, the SEC surprisingly decided to allow ETFs for Ether, a token that ranks second after Bitcoin in terms of market value. The agency chaired by Gary Gensler is skeptical of the entire crypto industry following a series of scandals.
The Bitcoin fund group – with assets of $58.5 billion to date – has been hailed as one of the best-performing new ETF categories. But critics say volatile digital assets are not suitable for widespread adoption, even within ETFs.
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Some countries, such as Singapore and China, limit or prohibit investor access. In the United States, a Vanguard Group spokesperson said in January that the company had no plans to offer crypto-related products. BlackRock and Vanguard are the two largest asset managers in the world.
Bitcoin has quadrupled since the start of last year, aided by ETFs, part of a powerful recovery from a deep bear market in 2022. The token was up about 1% at $68,797 as of 12 p.m. Wednesday. h 48 in Singapore.
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