BlackRock’s IBIT rockets to $70B in 341 days, 5x faster than previous record

BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) exchange-traded fund (ETF) crossed $70 billion in assets under management (AUM) on June 6, being the fastest to reach this mark in just 341 trading days. 

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas reported the milestone on X, noting that the fund beat the previous speed record of 1,691 days set by the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD) by five times.

Fastest path to $70 billion

In addition to speed, IBIT's dominance also shines among other spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs.

According to Bitcoin Treasuries data, the BlackRock fund commands more than triple the next-largest vehicle, Fidelity's Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust (FBTC), with $21.3 billion under management.

Furthermore, it dwarfs Ark 21shares' ARKB and Bitwise's BITB, with their $4.6 billion and $3.9 billion under management, respectively. Grayscale's legacy GBTC fund remains sizeable at $19.3 billion, but it is still more than three times smaller than IBIT.

IBIT holds about 662,707 BTC, nearly 20% of the 3,404,140 BTC which is custodied on behalf of public companies, private companies, governments, exchanges, and DeFi smart contracts.

Fresh firepower

However, IBIT's dominance among institutional Bitcoin holders might be threatened as interest extends beyond ETFs and suggests distribution over BTC's supply in the next few years. 

VanEck's head of digital assets research, Matthew Sigel, shared data from Wells Fargo on June 9 that six publicly traded firms collectively hold or plan to raise up to $76 billion for potential Bitcoin purchases.

The companies include Strategy, Twenty One Capital, Strive, Semler Scientific, Nakamoto Corp., and Trump Media and Technology Group. 

Sigel highlighted that the pool equals 56% of the spot Bitcoin ETF complex's current assets under management and 16% of the net ETF inflows accumulated over the past 16 months.

IBIT's rapid ascent to $70 billion cements the spot Bitcoin ETFs as the dominant gateway for institutional exposure, while parallel corporate capital raises point to deeper supply consolidation in the months ahead.