BlackRock's IBIT Hits $1B AUM in Record Time, Emerging as Top Choice Among New Bitcoin ETFs

BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has made a big splash by reaching $1 billion in assets under management (AUM) within just one week of hitting the market.

The ETF started trading on January 12 and is now leading the pack among the new bitcoin exchange-traded funds.

Robert Mitchnick, Head of Digital Assets at BlackRock, said, "We are happy to see IBIT reach this milestone in its first week, showing that investors really want it. This is just the beginning. We're committed to providing investors access to a good-quality ETF over the long term."

IBIT mainly holds bitcoin, with 99% of its portfolio in the cryptocurrency and a small part in regular money, totaling nearly $60,000. As of the latest update on Thursday, the fund had 25,067 bitcoin. IBIT closed Wednesday trading at $24.41, a bit higher than the regular bitcoin price.

This ETF has been trading around 14 million shares on average each day. Among the new bitcoin ETFs on Robinhood, BlackRock's ETF is the most popular in terms of volume, according to Steve Quirk, Chief Brokerage Officer at Robinhood.

He mentioned, "Customers are saying they want an inexpensive way to add bitcoin to their investment, and the BlackRock one has been the most popular."

Quirk noted that unlike other ETFs, a third of Robinhood users who bought BlackRock's ETF sold some of their other investments before buying it, making it part of their overall portfolio.

While BlackRock's ETF is the most popular, Grayscale's bitcoin ETF is more active in the broader market. However, a good chunk of Grayscale's activity is from people selling, not buying.

The total trading for all bitcoin ETFs combined reached $12.7 billion in the first five days. More than 90% of this trading happened with the top three funds – Grayscale, BlackRock, and Fidelity.

Steve Quirk is optimistic about these new bitcoin ETFs, saying they are now among the "top 20" most popular investments on Robinhood.

Robinhood recently added all 11 bitcoin ETFs to its platform, with the belief that cryptocurrencies are part of the future of finance and that making bitcoin more accessible through ETFs is a positive step for the industry.