BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has seen its BTC holdings surpass those of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), making it the world’s largest exchange-traded fund offering investors exposure to the price of Bitcoin.
Data from HODL15Capital shows that IBIT recorded net inflows of $102.5 million on May 28, while GBTC experienced outflows of $105 million, leading to the flippening. This surge in investment for IBIT has propelled its total Bitcoin holdings to 288,670, compared to GBTC’s current holdings of 287,450. Notably, GBTC had a significantly higher position of 620,000 Bitcoin when it converted into a spot Bitcoin ETF.
Analysts attribute this shift to Grayscale’s higher fees, which have driven investors towards BlackRock’s lower-cost alternative after GBTC was converted into a spot Bitcoin ETF at the same time several of these ETFs started trading in the United States.
Notably, BlackRock’s income and bond-focused funds have recently added exposure to its own spot Bitcoin ETF, with regulatory filings showing that BlackRock’s Strategic Income Opportunities Fund and Strategic Global Bond Fund purchased shares of iShares Bitcoin Trust.
The Strategic Income Opportunities Fund (BSIIX) has invested $3.56 million in IBIT shares, and the Strategic Global Bond Fund (MAWIX) has purchased $485,000 worth of shares. These investments are a tiny fraction of the total portfolios of these funds, with the IBIT shares constituting an insignificant part of the $37.4 billion and $776.4 million managed by the Income Opportunities and Global Bond Funds, respectively.
Earlier this week, the total Bitcoin holdings of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded products (ETPs) exceeded 1 million BTC. The majority of these coins are held by spot Bitcoin ETFs based in the United States.
Bitcoin, it’s worth noting, is currently trading at $67,800 after dropping more than 3.2% over the past week over a series of movements from the cryptocurrency wallets of the defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox.
The recent transactions reignited anxieties surrounding a potential sell-off by creditors who are in line to receive a portion of the $9 billion Bitcoin hoard Mt. Gox has held since its 2014 bankruptcy.
Featured image via Unsplash.
