BlackRock’s IBIT spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) has achieved a significant milestone, surpassing 300,000 BTC ($21 billion) in assets under management (AUM) just five months after its launch on January 11. As of Thursday, the fund has accumulated 302,534 BTC, with a net inflow of approximately 4,920 BTC yesterday pushing it over the threshold.
BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF has now overtaken Grayscale’s GBTC in terms of AUM, a notable achievement given GBTC’s earlier market entry and established presence. GBTC initially operated as a private placement fund before transitioning to public trading on the OTC market in 2015 and converting to an ETF in January. However, GBTC charges a significantly higher fee of 1.5% compared to BlackRock’s competitive 0.25% fee.
Since its conversion, GBTC’s bitcoin holdings have decreased by approximately 54%, from around 619,220 BTC to 285,651 BTC as of Thursday, according to fund disclosures. Despite the decline in BTC holdings, GBTC’s assets under management in USD terms have fallen less dramatically, decreasing by 30% from $28.7 billion on January 11 to $20 billion, reflecting the concurrent rise in bitcoin’s price since the launch of spot ETFs.
The total assets held by all U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs now amount to nearly 883,000 BTC ($63 billion), representing 4.2% of bitcoin’s total 21 million supply, according to CoinGlass data. This growth underscores the increasing institutional interest and investor confidence in Bitcoin as a mainstream asset class.