BlackRock's IBIT Dethrones GBTC To Become World's 'Largest Crypto ETF'

BlackRock's spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) IBIT has reached a new milestone, overtaking Grayscale's GBTC to become the world's largest cryptocurrency ETF.

"BlackRock had combined inflows of +9451.7 BTC (+$656.7M) over the past 7 days, and now hold 284.5K BTC," which is worth around $19.4 billion based on current prices, blockchain intelligence firm Arkham Intelligence said Wednesday.

Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst for Bloomberg, believes IBIT will probably be "king of the category" for decades, largely due to its low transaction fees, "big boy liquidity" and a "too powerful" brand name (iShares Bitcoin Trust).

He went on to note just how significant IBIT's road to glory has been, saying there has only been one ETF in financial history that reached $20 billion in assets in under 1,000 days: $JEPI, JPMorgan's ETF, which achieved the said amount in 985 days. IBIT logged its latest milestone within just 137 days.

The news was well-received by the cryptocurrency community on X (formerly Twitter). One user said it was "not surprising," considering the massive inflows the Bitcoin ETF has seen in recent weeks. Another user said it was "always going to happen."

BlackRock's IBIT has been a top choice for many retail investors since the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved spot BTC ETFs in January. It has seen significant inflows, while GBTC suffered millions in outflows since its launch.

IBIT has also gained traction among institutional investors. In its first 13F season earlier this month, it was revealed that the spot Bitcoin ETF gained 414 holders who disclosed their IBIT shares holdings. At the time, Balchunas said it was "mind boggling" just how far the ETF has come since January.

In comparison, Fidelity's FBTC garnered more than 200 holders, while Bitwise's BITB had some 100 holders.

BlackRock's new milestone comes on the heels of a new feat by the overall spot Bitcoin ETF, which recently logged more than 1 million total Bitcoin holdings, or 5% of the world's total supply.

Over 30 global spot BTC ETFs now hold 1,002,343 Bitcoin as of May 24, with the largest holding being BlackRock's IBIT, followed by Fidelity's FBTC. Most of the BTC are still within American ETF grounds, but a chart posted by MicroStrategy's founder and executive chairman Michael Saylor suggests international ETFs are gradually catching up.

Meanwhile, investment management firm Millennium Management has been dubbed the "king of Bitcoin ETF holders" after it recently disclosed that it holds some $2 billion worth of BTC ETFs, including around $844 million in IBIT shares.