BlackRock tops spot bitcoin ETF race with over $1 billion inflows
After launching recently in the US, Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have drawn interest from investors, bringing in $1.9 billion in the first three days of trading. During the surge, BlackRock also witnessed significant inflows, reaching over $1 billion within four days of trading.
The huge inflows to IBIT represent a major milestone for the company. According to the report from iShares, IBIT’s closing price of $24.41 on Wednesday indicated a 0.42 percent premium over spot Bitcoin prices. The fund recorded 14 million shares traded per day on average.
Two main factors influence the investors’ decisions, including lower fees and brand recognition. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) and Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) have drawn significant investments since their fees are lower than the industry average.
The fees for BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETFs were recently lowered from 0.30 percent to 0.25 percent. This action, which was taken prior to the funds’ approval by the SEC, is viewed as a proactive strategy to draw investors and secure a large capital inflow.
The spot Bitcoin ETFs inflows into nine new exchange-traded funds, which BlackRock led alongside Fidelity, were reported to surpass the initial investments made in the SPDR Gold Shares ETF ($1.13 billion) and the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF ($1.2 billion).
Bitcoin falls following ETF approval
Despite the surge of inflows to Bitcoin ETFs, the price of the token fell below the $43,000 mark over the past week. According to the data from CoinMetrics, the price of Bitcoin dropped by 3.6 percent to $41,167 on Thursday. It had previously dropped to $40,601.37, which was the lowest since December 18, 2023.
“We are still in the correction post-ETF launch,” said Julio Moreno, head of research at CryptoQuant. “Short-term traders and large Bitcoin holders are still doing significant selling in a context of a risk-off attitude.”
The price of Bitcoin has continued to fluctuate over recent days. The significant price swings resulted in nearly $20 million worth of leveraged Bitcoin position liquidations on cryptocurrency exchanges, based on CoinGlass reported on Thursday.
Angel Marinov is the Managing Editor at Coinlabz. With extensive knowledge of crypto payments and blockchain use cases, Angel is a trusted source of accurate and timely information
