BlackRock's Bitcoin Bonanza: iShares Trust Stacks Over 700K BTC

IBIT's Aggressive Accumulation Shatters Records

Hang onto your hats, crypto fans! BlackRock, the heavyweight asset manager, isn't just playing around with Bitcoin—they're stacking it like there's no tomorrow. Their iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) just smashed through the 700,000 BTC barrier, gobbling up roughly 55% of all the Bitcoin held in US spot ETFs. That's a cool $80 billion at today's prices, and they're not slowing down. Just added another 1,388 BTC to the pile, says Thomas Fahrer from ApolloSats.

Since its explosive launch, IBIT has been a rocket ship, pulling in a whopping $76 billion in assets under management (AUM). It's hoovered up 96% of the net inflows into Bitcoin ETFs since January 2024. This beast is outperforming even BlackRock's legendary S&P 500 ETF, IVV, raking in more annual revenue. Yeah, you heard that right—IBIT's pulling in $187.2 million in fees, edging out IVV's $187.1 million, despite IVV managing a massive $624 billion.

With this haul, BlackRock's sitting pretty as one of the biggest Bitcoin whales on the planet, leaving corporate giants like MicroStrategy, Tesla, and Coinbase in the dust.

The crypto world's buzzing about this milestone. Nate Geraci from ETF Store dropped a tweet saying that hitting 700,000 BTC in just 18 months is "ridiculous."

And guess what? BlackRock didn't just stop at the milestone—they led the charge in the latest round of Bitcoin ETF inflows on July 7, snagging about $165 million out of the total $217 million recorded. SoSoValue's got the numbers.

IBIT's meteoric rise is turning heads globally. Bloomberg's reporting that Italy's UniCredit SpA is jumping on the bandwagon, planning to launch a five-year, dollar-denominated investment certificate tied to IBIT for the pros. It's a slick way to get into digital assets without messing with crypto custody or wallets.

And while we're at it, BlackRock's Ethereum ETF isn't sitting idle either. It's picking up steam, inching closer to $5 billion in AUM.