By Scott Matherson, Bitcoinist.com, 2024-06-04
Since launching, the Spot Bitcoin ETFs have achieved immense success with mass adoption, which they have enjoyed among institutional investors. Thanks to this, inflows into these funds have accounted for most of the inflows that their respective issuers have recorded since the year began.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs A Major Source Of Inflows For Fund Issuers
Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas revealed in an X (formerly Twitter) post that BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has accounted for 26% of the flows that the asset manager has seen this year across all its listed exchange-traded funds (ETFs). For context, BlackRock currently has 433 listed funds on the market.
Balchunas also revealed that the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) has accounted for 56% of Fidelity's flows this year. Interestingly, IBIT and FBTC have been the most successful Spot BTC ETFs, recording total inflows of $16.6 billion and $8.9 billion since they launched.
BlackRock's IBIT also recently surpassed Grayscale's Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) to become the largest Spot Bitcoin ETF. Grayscale's GBTC had initially operated as a close-end fund before converting to a Spot ETF, which was why it was the largest Bitcoin ETF when these funds launched.
However, Grayscale's GBTC has since experienced significant outflows, allowing BlackRock to overtake it as the largest Bitcoin ETF. Data from the on-chain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence shows that Grayscale's GBTC currently holds 287 BTC while BlackRock currently holds almost 290 BTC.
However, despite the impressive success that BlackRock and Fidelity have achieved, these asset managers haven't recorded the most inflows since the start of this year. Balchunas shared a chart that showed that Vanguard, which doesn't offer any Bitcoin ETF, was leading all ETF issuers in year-to-date (YTD) flows with an inflow of $102.8 billion.
BlackRock is currently ranked second with YTD flows of $65.1 flows of $65.1 billion. Invesco, another Spot BTC ETF issuer, is ranked third with a YTD flow of $34.7. However, Invesco's Spot Bitcoin ETF has only accounted for 0.95 of these flows, having recorded $317.3 million in total net inflows since the year began.
Big Things Still To Come For Spot ETF Issuers
With the bull market yet to kickstart in full force, these Spot Bitcoin ETF issuers are expected to record higher net inflows as this market cycle progresses. This means that BlackRock and Invesco could still give Vanguard a run and possibly surpass the asset manager.
Moreover, these Spot Bitcoin ETF issuers are again seeing increased demand for their funds after recording a lengthy period of significant outflows in April. Specifically, BlackRock has continued to enjoy an impressive run, with the asset manager recording a net inflows of $169.1 million on May 31.
