Two BlackRock funds added the firm's IBIT spot bitcoin ETF to portfolio in Q1

Funds • May 28, 2024, 4:47PM EDT
Published 1 minute earlier on
The Block

Quick Take

  • Two funds managed by BlackRock bought shares in the firm’s IBIT spot bitcoin ETF, according to SEC filings. 
  • BlackRock’s spot bitcoin ETF has taken in more fresh capital than any of its peers since they all launched in January.

Two funds managed by BlackRock have bought shares in the firm's spot bitcoin ETF, ticker symbol IBIT, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Both the Wall Street giant's BlackRock Strategic Income Opportunities and BlackRock Strategic Global Bond funds reported having bought shares in the spot bitcoin ETF launched by the firm in January. BlackRock Strategic Income Opportunities acquired nearly $3.6 million worth of IBIT shares, while BlackRock Strategic Global Bond bought $486,000 in IBIT shares during the first quarter of 2024, according to the filing.

BlackRock's IBIT exchange-traded fund has taken in more fresh capital than any other spot bitcoin ETF since the ETFs began trading in January. Grayscale's spot bitcoin ETF currently has more assets under management than any of its peers, but the firm's fund is a conversion of its flagship GBTC fund, which had nearly $30 billion in AUM at launch.  

Both BlackRock funds that purchased shares in the IBIT spot bitcoin ETF are managed by Rick Rieder, the firm's CIO of global fixed income.

Filings for the first quarter of this year showed that hundreds of traditional financial firms purchased shares in spot bitcoin ETFs during the fiscal period. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said it was “mind boggling” that more than 400 institutions reported buying BlackRock's new spot bitcoin ETF.


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RT Watson is a senior reporter at The Block who covers a wide array of topics including U.S.-based companies, blockchain gaming and NFTs. Formerly covered entertainment at The Wall Street Journal, where he wrote about Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros. and the creator economy while focusing primarily on technological disruption across media. Previous to that he covered corporate, economic and political news in Brazil while at Bloomberg. RT has interviewed a diverse cast of characters including CEOs, media moguls, top influencers, politicians, blue-collar workers, drug traffickers and convicted criminals. Holds a master's degree in Digital Sociology.

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