BlackRock IBIT Leads with $1B+ Inflows, 4 Days After Spot BTC ETF Products Went Live

Current data suggests that, four days after spot BTC ETF products went live, the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) leads with over $1 billion inflows within this period.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the first batch of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on Jan. 10, opening the doors for institutional investors to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency market. 

The spot Bitcoin ETFs are expected to boost the adoption and liquidity of the cryptocurrency market, as they provide a regulated and convenient way for institutional investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin.

BlackRock IBIT Leads in Daily Flows

Four days after the products started trading on the open market, one ETF product stands out from the rest: iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), managed by BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, with over $10 trillion in assets under management (AUM).

According to JA Maartun, a verified CryptoQuant author, IBIT has attracted more than $1 billion in inflows, equivalent to 25,000 BTC, in the first four trading days. Maartun shared this information on X, citing data from BitMEX Research.

The second most popular ETF product is FBTC from Fidelity Investments, which has received $884 million in inflows, or about 21,000 BTC. The other ETF products that have seen inflows are Bitwise’s BITB ($373 million), 21 Shares’ ARKB ($278 million), and Invesco’s BTCO ($135 million).

GBTC Neutralizes High Spot BTC ETF Demand 

However, not all ETF products have fared well in the market. The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which was previously the dominant vehicle for institutional investors to access Bitcoin, has suffered a huge outflow of $1.627 billion, or about 38,000 BTC, in the same period. 

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This indicates that investors are switching from GBTC to the new spot Bitcoin ETFs, which offer lower fees. Recall that Grayscale’s amended filing with the U.S. SEC showed that the firm set a fee of 1.5% for the GBTC. For context, other firms have fees ranging from 0.19% to 0.25%.

Charts provided by Maartunn show that IBIT has consistently had the highest inflows on each trading day, with day 2 witnessing the single largest inflow for the product, at $386 million. Meanwhile, GBTC has had the highest daily outflows. 

Other products have also recorded daily inflows. BITB saw $237 million positive inflows on day 1, while FBTC witnessed $359 million on day 4. Investor demand for the spot BTC ETF products has surged, but it has been neutralized by the selling pressure from GBTC.

Notably, the products saw $625 million inflows on the first day of trading, but dropped to $222 million on the second day. The third day witnessed the first daily outflow of -$41 million. However, day 4 saw inflows of $474 million. Notably, these figures would be higher without GBTC.

The cumulative flow of all ETF products has increased from $625 million on day 1 to $1.28 billion on the fourth day. This means that the products have triggered the purchase of 30,000 BTC at the current average BTC price of $42,000. The BTC ETF market recently surpassed silver.