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BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has made headlines by amassing a staggering $70 billion in total assets, achieving this milestone faster than any other exchange-traded fund (ETF) in history.
This remarkable feat occurred just 341 days after its launch, according to Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas, who noted that IBIT reached this figure five times quicker than the previous record holder, State Street’s GLD gold ETF, which took nearly 1,700 days.
BlackRock’s IBIT Outshines Competitors
As the most popular of the twelve Bitcoin ETFs currently available, IBIT stands out significantly in the market. Following closely behind are Fidelity’s FBTC and Grayscale’s GBTC, both of which have around $20 billion in assets.
The launch of IBIT and ten other Bitcoin ETFs at the start of last year by the world’s largest asset managers marked a significant shift in the investment landscape, fueled by long-awaited regulatory approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The debut of these funds highlighted a robust demand from investors eager to capitalize on Bitcoin’s price fluctuations. IBIT alone accumulated over $1 billion in assets within just four days of its market introduction.
By November, IBIT had surpassed the total assets of BlackRock’s gold fund, solidifying its position as the largest among the 1,400 funds managed by the asset manager worldwide.
Bitcoin ETF Market Thrives
The momentum didn’t stop there; in December, IBIT became the fastest exchange-traded fund to hit $50 billion in assets, achieving this milestone five times quicker than BlackRock’s iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF, which took nearly four years to reach the same level.
“IBIT’s growth is unprecedented,” remarked Bloomberg ETF expert James Seyffart in an interview with Fortune Magazine on Monday. “It’s the fastest ETF to reach most milestones, outpacing any other ETF across all asset classes.”
The surge in Bitcoin ETFs has coincided with significant increases in the cryptocurrency’s price. For instance, as Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $111,900 in late May, the cumulative net assets across all twelve Bitcoin ETFs surpassed $134 billion, reflecting the growing interest and investment in this digital asset class.
Since reaching its record high, the market’s leading cryptocurrency has retraced, with the most important support line at $100,000 being tested on June 5. Nevertheless, Bitcoin has once again regained its bullish momentum, jumping past the $108,400 mark on Monday.
With gains of 2% and 4% on the 24-hour and weekly time frames, respectively, the price of BTC is now only 2.7% below the record price level. This puts the cryptocurrency on the verge of a new price discovery phase after the normal pullback seen last week.
Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
