BlackRock bitcoin ETF raking in flows as GBTC continues to bleed assets

The world’s largest asset manager has so far edged fellow financial giant Fidelity and crypto-focused firm Bitwise

January 17, 2024 11:26 am

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink | World Economic Forum/Faruk Pinjo/"World Economic Forum Annual Meeting" (CC license)

BlackRock’s spot bitcoin ETF has notched $710 million in net flows over its first three trading days, according to Bloomberg Intelligence data — outpacing Fidelity, Bitwise and other rivals.

Meanwhile Grayscale Investments’ Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC) continues to hemorrhage assets.

Data shared by Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Eric Balchunas on Wednesday shows Fidelity at the number two spot, with net inflows of $524 million during the three-day span.

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A similar offering by Bitwise, as well as one by Ark Invest and 21Shares, have net flows of $305 million and $227 million, respectively, over that timeframe.

Read more: Bitcoin ETF Tracker

Five other spot bitcoin ETFs have not yet hit $100 million in net flows.

The 10 spot BTC funds live in the US have notched combined volumes of roughly $10 billion and net flows of $782 million in their first three days trading.

Though GBTC accounts for about half of that volume’s total, the fund has seen $1.2 billion in net outflows, according to Bloomberg Intelligence data. While BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) carries a fee of 0.25%, Grayscale’s GBTC fee stands at 1.5%.

Grayscale launched GBTC in 2013 — though only last week was able to convert the trust to an ETF. The crypto asset manager disallowed redemptions for the trust years ago. Investors were previously only able to sell eligible shares of GBTC on the secondary market at a premium or discount to net asset value.

Despite the GBTC ETF’s high price point compared to competing offerings, the company had said in a statement the fund could appeal to investors looking for “market-leading liquidity, tight spreads, high trading volumes and a decade-long track record of operational success.”

The fund’s assets under management have dipped below $26 billion.

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