BlackRock’s Spot Bitcoin ETF offering brings more revenue than its S&P 500 tracker fund, according to Bloomberg analysts. The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) has picked up inflows in all but one of the last 18 months, an extremely successful offering since its launch in January 2024.
With an expense ratio of 0.25%, the fund brings in an estimated $187.2 million in annual fees, according to Bloomberg. That is higher than the $187.1 million made by BlackRock’s iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV). What is even more shocking about that stat is that the BlackRock S&P 500 fund is nearly nine times larger at around $624 billion in assets, and charges just 0.03%.
“IBIT overtaking IVV in annual fee revenue is reflective of both the surging investor demand for Bitcoin and the significant fee compression in core equity exposure,” said Nate Geraci, president at NovaDius Wealth Management. “Although spot Bitcoin ETFs are priced very competitively, IBIT is proof that investors are willing to pay up for exposures they view as truly additive to their portfolios.”
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BlackRock’s IBIT Bitcoin ETF: A Dominant Force and Offering
BlackRock has seen immense success with its crypto offerings, adding another valuable investment option for its customers. The $10 trillion asset manager is now running a crypto-friendly approach and looks to become one of the leading financial managers of crypto. Additionally, BlackRock’s Bitcoin (BTC) IBIT ETF entered the top 20 most traded ETFs this year already, and if that trend continues, it could enter the top 10 in the next few months. According to Farside Investors, BlackRock purchased over $930 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) last month. The world’s largest asset manager also liquidated $260.9 million worth of BTC in the same time frame.
Several investing experts have praised BlackRock’s crypto strategy and the IBIT Bitcoin ETF. “It’s an indication of how much pent-up demand there was for investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin as part of their overall portfolio without having to open a separate account somewhere else,” said Paul Hickey, co-founder of Bespoke Investment Group. “It also illustrates the leadership of Bitcoin in the crypto space where its perceived utility as a store of value has essentially left the others in its dust.”
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Furthermore, Bloomberg Intelligence’s Athanasios Psarofagis suggests that IBIT could help BlackRock surpass State Street as the new liquidity leader in the ETF world. Currently, the BlackRock Bitcoin ETF commands about 25% of ETF trading by dollar volume, just behind State Street’s 31%.