BlackRock’s Spot Bitcoin ETF is attracting money at a rate unprecedented in the fund industry. After another $4 billion in inflows this week, IBIT now holds more than 800,000 BTC (worth about $98 billion), a milestone no ETF has ever reached this quickly before.
Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seifert estimate that IBIT currently generates more than $240 million annually from its 0.25% fee, making it BlackRock’s most profitable product among its global lineup of more than 1,000 ETFs. This is a remarkable achievement for a fund that was founded less than two years ago, and one that is already redefining what “mainstream adoption” of Bitcoin looks like.
IBIT’s scale is unparalleled. The fund raised $37 billion in its first year and will collect another $26 billion by 2025, according to Bloomberg data. With more than $70 billion in assets, more than its closest competitor, BlackRock’s Bitcoin fund has effectively strengthened Wall Street’s grip on the crypto ETF world. According to Farside Data, total Bitcoin ETF spot holdings currently exceed 1.3 million BTC, with IBIT accounting for over 60% of that supply.
This growth has been driven by a feedback loop of prices and capital inflows. Bitcoin reached a new ATH of $125,000 over the weekend, extending its 70% rally since Donald Trump’s election victory in November. The administration’s push for broader crypto integration, including a more friendly custody and ETF framework, has sparked a wave of institutional demand that mirrors the early days of the gold ETF boom two decades ago. Every time the price rises, new money flows in from allocators looking to gain exposure without dealing with wallets or private keys.
Balchunas and Seyffart noted that IBIT is on track to reach $100 billion in assets about five times faster than any ETF in history, a record of its own. The world’s largest ETFs (SPY, QQQ, VOO) all took years to cross that threshold. With IBIT, you can do it in less than 24 months. “The fact that IBIT is now BlackRock’s most profitable product is very impressive,” Seifert told Bloomberg, recalling that it beat even their “most bullish expectations.”
Behind the scenes, this surge reflects both marketing power and timing. BlackRock used its retail distribution network and institutional relationships to direct demand to a single flagship product. Kaiko’s Adam Morgan McCarthy said the “digital gold” narrative gained new momentum earlier this year, particularly after the US tariff announcement in April sparked a surge in people looking to hedge against inflation.
ETF data supports that view. In the past two weeks alone, IBIT has seen net inflows increase by nearly $4 billion and Bitcoin balances exceed 800,000 BTC, according to data from Farside Investors. This represents about 4% of the total Bitcoin supply and exceeds the holdings of MicroStrategy and the next nine largest corporate holders combined. At its current growth rate, IBIT could soon hold one in every 20 Bitcoins ever mined. This is an unprecedented concentration of BTC in a regulated product.
BlackRock has declined to comment publicly, but the message to competitors is clear. “Scale wins.” The second largest spot ETF, Fidelity’s FBTC, is still about $70 billion smaller. The center of gravity is now fixed around one ticker, even if the rest of the market sees healthy inflows. With the rise of IBIT, Bitcoin has become a fully financialized asset. More than just a hedge or an experiment, it has become a foundational product for the world’s largest asset management company.
Whether this is bullish or a cause for concern depends on how you look at it. Bitcoin’s decentralization was built on independence from institutions. But the market is now finding itself rooting for funds whose success depends on theirs. Either way, it could reach the $100 billion mark in just a few more trading sessions.
