Thomas Daniels
Wall Street’s appetite for Bitcoin-related investment vehicles surged last week as BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), recorded $1.1 billion in new inflows. This pushed total assets under management (AUM) for IBIT to $26 billion, solidifying its position as the fastest-growing exchange-traded fund (ETF) in financial history.
Bitcoin (BTC) has emerged as a key focus for BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, as the company’s Bitcoin ETF has outpaced many traditional financial products. Since the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs in mid-January, BlackRock’s IBIT has quickly broken into the top 2% of all U.S.-listed ETFs, further cementing its dominance in the burgeoning digital asset space.
Between October 14 and October 18 alone, BlackRock’s IBIT captured half of the $2.2 billion in total inflows recorded by U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs. The $1.1 billion inflow marked IBIT’s best performance since March, and year-to-date, it ranks third in total fund flows. This exceptional growth highlights Wall Street’s increasing interest in Bitcoin as a mainstream investment asset.
The rapid success of spot Bitcoin ETFs has sparked widespread media attention and policy discussions, with many market observers considering their impact on the future of cryptocurrency regulation. While Ethereum (ETH) spot ETFs have also entered the market, they have attracted more modest inflows compared to their Bitcoin counterparts. BlackRock’s IBIT alone has outpaced the entire $7.35 billion deposited into Ethereum ETFs.
Despite this, Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan remains optimistic about Ethereum’s long-term potential. Hougan believes that while Ethereum ETFs may have launched prematurely, the blockchain’s growing ecosystem—particularly its smart contract applications—will attract substantial institutional interest in the years to come.
Additionally, the success of existing crypto funds has encouraged new digital asset ETF filings. Bitwise has submitted applications to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an XRP ETF and a BTC-Treasury ETF. Similarly, Canary Capital, led by Valkyrie founder Steven McClurg, has filed for a spot Litecoin fund.
