ETFs
BlackRock’s Bitcoin fund breaks another ETF record with ‘staggering’ number of holders – DL News
- More than 500 different financial companies have purchased Bitcoin ETF shares since January.
- Fund holders include hedge funds, investment advisors, private equity funds and pension funds.
Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds have not only seen record inflows: three months later, they have already attracted investors from all sides.
According to Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, more than 500 different entities have disclosed their holdings in Bitcoin ETFs, more than 200 times the average of two to three new ETF holders.
“Staggering”
Bitcoin ETFs have seen huge demand since their launch on January 11 – and not as much as BlackRock’s fund.
BlackRock IBIT has accumulated more than 414 incumbents, a “staggering” number, Balchunas said. “Even having 20 carriers as a newborn is [a big deal], very rare,” Balchunas posted, referring to the recently launched ETFs. The BlackRock fund “explodes” previous records, the analyst added.
The fund’s holders are varied, Balchunas noted. They include hedge fund managers, investment advisors, private equity firms, pension funds, brokerage houses, banks, trusts, insurance companies, holding companies and family offices .
Hedge fund managers owned nearly 69% of the fund’s shares and investment advisors 22%.
“Normally you don’t see such a long list of holder types until years after launch and mega liquidity – which IBIT already has,” Balchunas said.
Global investment management company Millennium is the largest ETF holder so far, with nearly $786 million in BlackRock’s ETF, another $750 million in Fidelity’s, $188 million in Grayscale’s GBTC and $41 million in Bitcoin spot funds ARK Invest and Bitwise.
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But not all holders buy Bitcoin out of conviction. Balchunas distinguished Pine Ridge Advisers, which owns approximately $205 million in Bitcoin through the various ETFs, or approximately 23% of its total assets under management.
“Probably some sort of arbitrage, compared to, say, a [registered investment advisor] putting 1/4 of grandma’s wallet into Bitcoin,” Balchunas said.
Crypto market players
- Bitcoin is up 0.4% over the past 24 hours, trading at $65,100.
- Ethereum fell 1.3% over the same period, now at $2,940.
What we read
Tom Carreras is a markets correspondent for DL News. Do you have a tip on Bitcoin ETFs? Contact us at tcarreras@dlnews.com