The launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs (exchange-traded funds) in January 2024 marked the perfect start to the year for the cryptocurrency industry. These crypto investment products were expected to go the extra mile for the leading cryptocurrency, attracting more investors to the digital asset space.
BlackRock’s IBIT exchange-traded fund was the leader of the pack – as expected, breaking records and attracting significant new capital week after week. In one such milestone, the Bitcoin ETF has now surpassed BlackRock’s gold fund in terms of net assets.
The net assets of BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF exceed $33 billion
As of Thursday, November 7, BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF with IBIT has net assets of about $33.2 billion. This number puts the Bitcoin ETF slightly higher than its gold counterpart (with the IAU ticker), which has net assets of about $32.9 billion.
What makes this feat even more impressive is the fact that BlackRock’s IBIT just started trading in January 2024 — along with 10 other bitcoin ETFs. Meanwhile, the asset manager’s gold fund has had a strong 20-year start, having been trading since January 2005.
Head of ETF Shop Nate Geraci open This was stated in a post on the X platform on Thursday, coinciding with the day that IBIT returned to positive flows with the largest capital inflow ever. According to data from SoSoValue, BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF recorded a massive net inflow of $1.12 billion.
This impressive single-day performance represents a significant turnaround from a series of negative flows for the cryptocurrency fund. IBIT recorded a cumulative outflow of $113 million on Tuesday, November 5 and Wednesday, November 6.
BlackRock’s IBIT also leads the US bitcoin ETF market in terms of net assets; Grayscale’s GBTC and Fidelity come in second and third with $16.8 billion and $14.58 billion, respectively. The Ark & 21Shares ETF (with ticker ARKB) and the Bitwise ETF (with ticker BITB) make up the top five.
Bitcoin price overview
Cryptocurrency enthusiasts will be looking forward to a more significant capital influx for BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF, as history suggests that the price of Bitcoin is positively correlated with this money movement. As shown in Thursday’s price action, the leading digital currency succeeded in breaching the 76,000-point level.
As of this writing, Bitcoin’s price stands above $76,500 after briefly topping $77,000 on Friday. According to CoinGecko data, the market leader is up more than 10% in the past week.
The price of Bitcoin approaching $77,000 on the daily timeframe | Source: BTCUSDT chart on TradingView
Featured image from Getty Images, chart from TradingView