On May 29th, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Spot ETF (IBIT) surpassed Grayscale’s GBTC to become the largest Bitcoin spot ETF in terms of assets under management. According to HODL15Capital data, on May 28th, IBIT received inflows of approximately $102 million (1,503 BTC), bringing the total BTC holdings to over 288,670, valued at around $19.795 billion. On the same day, GBTC experienced outflows of over $105 million (1,543 BTC), marking the largest outflow in the past two weeks. GBTC currently holds around 287,450 BTC, valued at $19.758 billion. IBIT’s BTC holdings have officially surpassed GBTC, leading by over $30 million, making it the largest Bitcoin spot ETF in the world.
In just four months since its launch, IBIT has attracted approximately $20 billion worth of BTC, making it one of the fastest-growing ETFs in history. According to data from BlackRock’s official website, as of May 30th, IBIT had an average daily trading volume of $24.72 million over the past 30 days.
ETF analyst Eric Balchunas from Bloomberg praised IBIT’s exceptional performance in such a short period of time, stating that it is a legend in the ETF industry. Previously, only one ETF, JEPI, managed to reach $20 billion in assets under management in less than 1,000 days, while IBIT achieved the same milestone in approximately 137 days.
Data from SoSoValue shows that IBIT has consistently seen inflows since its launch on January 11th, with positive net flows for over three months until mid-April. On its first day of trading, IBIT received inflows of over $110 million when the price of BTC was $46,000. The highest daily inflow was recorded on March 12th, reaching approximately $848 million, and the next day, BTC reached its all-time high of $73,700.
Eric Balchunas attributes IBIT’s growth to its low fees, high liquidity, and the strong influence of BlackRock’s iShares brand. He also noted that while the total number of trades for IBIT has decreased recently, the average trade size has increased, suggesting that institutional investors have replaced retail investors.
On the other hand, GBTC has been experiencing outflows mainly due to its high management fees, which are five to six times higher than its competitors. GBTC’s management fee is approximately 1.5%, while Bitcoin spot ETFs have fees of around 0.2% or lower. Additionally, GBTC’s inability to redeem shares and the potential for premium or discount risks have also contributed to its outflows.
GBTC, which has been in existence since 2013 and managed approximately 619,000 BTC before the launch of Bitcoin spot ETFs, is considered an important indicator of BTC price movements in the crypto community. However, the operational differences between GBTC and Bitcoin spot ETFs have led to GBTC’s diminishing assets under management.
Since its launch, GBTC has been consistently experiencing net outflows for four months, although the outflow rate has slowed down in May. As of May 30th, GBTC’s assets under management were valued at $19.28 billion, with a total outflow of 332,000 BTC in the past four months, while still holding around 287,000 BTC.
With IBIT’s assets under management surpassing GBTC by approximately $200 million, it is expected to become a significant driving force behind Bitcoin price trends. Market maker Wintermute commented that investors will now focus on the inflows and outflows of IBIT rather than GBTC, which may drive attention towards Bitcoin ETFs and Bitcoin itself.
As of May 30th, the total net asset value of Bitcoin spot ETFs reached $57.683 billion, with IBIT accounting for over 33.7% of the market share. There are currently three Bitcoin spot ETFs with assets over $10 billion, including IBIT ($19.48 billion), GBTC ($19.28 billion), and FBTC ($10.94 billion).
Represented by IBIT, Bitcoin spot ETFs are becoming the gateway for traditional capital to enter the crypto market, attracting even larger volumes of funds compared to the previous institutional wave brought by Grayscale.
