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 (AUM).
According to HODL L1 Capital data, on May 28th, IBIT received inflows of approximately $102 million (1,503 BTC), bringing its total holdings to over 288,670 BTC, equivalent to a value of $19.795 billion.
On the same day, GBTC experienced outflows of over $105 million (1,543 BTC), making it the largest outflow in the past two weeks. GBTC currently holds approximately 287,450 BTC, valued at $19.758 billion.
With the AUM of IBIT surpassing GBTC by over $30 million, it has become the largest Bitcoin spot ETF in terms of BTC holdings globally.
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.
Eric Balchunas, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg, commented on IBIT’s outstanding performance, stating that it is a legend in itself. Only one ETF in history has reached $20 billion AUM within less than 1000 days, with JEPI achieving this milestone in 985 days. IBIT, on the other hand, accomplished the same feat in just around 137 days.
According to SoSoValue data, IBIT experienced continuous inflows for over three months from its launch on January 11th until mid-April.
Among these, the first day of trading saw inflows of over $110 million when BTC was priced at $46,000. On March 12th, the highest inflow was recorded at around $848 million, and the next day, BTC reached its all-time high of $73,700.
Eric Balchunas attributed IBIT’s growth to its low fees, high liquidity, and the strong brand influence of BlackRock’s iShares.
He also noted that while the total number of IBIT trades has decreased recently, the average trade size has increased, indicating that institutional investors have replaced retail investors.
The outflows from GBTC can be attributed to its high management fees, which are 5-6 times higher than its competitors. GBTC charges approximately 1.5% in management fees, while Bitcoin spot ETFs have fees of around 0.2% or lower.
Additionally, the risk of premium or discount associated with GBTC has led to outflows. GBTC’s inability to redeem shares may result in significant differences between its fund price and the market value of Bitcoin. Bitcoin spot ETFs, on the other hand, closely track the market price of Bitcoin without experiencing premium or discount.
GBTC has been experiencing net outflows for the past four months since the launch of Bitcoin ETFs, although the outflow rate has reduced in May.
As of May 30th, GBTC’s AUM stands at $19.28 billion, with a total outflow of 332,000 BTC in the past four months, while still holding approximately 287,000 BTC.
IBIT’s AUM now exceeds $200 million, making it a significant driving force behind Bitcoin’s price trend.
Market maker Wintermute stated that this represents a significant shift in the BTC supply-demand landscape. Investors will now focus on the inflows and outflows of IBIT instead of GBTC, which may drive attention to Bitcoin ETFs or the underlying BTC.
As of May 30th, the total AUM of Bitcoin spot ETFs stands at $57.683 billion, with IBIT capturing over 33.7% market share.
Among them, there are three Bitcoin ETFs with AUM exceeding $10 billion, including IBIT ($19.48 billion), GBTC ($19.28 billion), and FBTC ($10.94 billion).
Bitcoin spot ETFs, represented by IBIT, are becoming the gateway for traditional capital to enter the crypto space. Compared to the previous institutional wave brought by Grayscale, global asset management giants like BlackRock are bringing in even larger volumes of capital this time.
