Blackrock’s spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) has acquired 11,439 bitcoin, with a market value of nearly $500 million, within two days of trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange. Blackrock’s Ishares Bitcoin Trust was among the 11 spot bitcoin ETFs approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this week.
Ishares Bitcoin Trust’s BTC Holdings
Blackrock’s spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), the Ishares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), now holds 11,439 bitcoin.
According to Ishares ETFs’ website, IBIT’s holdings comprised 11,439.2198 bitcoin with a market value of $497,994,992.41 as of Jan. 12. The largest cryptocurrency now represents 99.99% of the trust holdings. Blackrock explained: “The value shown for ‘shares’ represents [the] total number of bitcoins held by the Ishares Bitcoin Trust.”
Crypto enthusiast known as Martyparty pointed out on social media platform X Saturday that on Jan. 11, Ishares Bitcoin Trust held roughly 50% bitcoin and 50% cash (U.S. dollars), while other spot bitcoin ETFs like Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund, Bitwise Bitcoin Fund, and Ark 21shares Bitcoin ETF held 100% in bitcoin. He opined:
Yesterday, I reported that Blackrock moved 50% of their ETF into cash. Well today, they updated and they did indeed, as I thought, buy the dip. They are now back in 100% in bitcoin.
“How did they know? We have a new set of whale traders in the game. The ETF fund managers can trade in and out of cash, any cash, any currency, forex included,” he added. The price of BTC surged to $49,000 on the first day of spot bitcoin ETF trading but fell below $42,000 on the second day. At the time of writing, BTC is trading at 42,885.90.
Blackrock’s Ishares Bitcoin Trust was among the 11 spot bitcoin ETFs approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday. The fund started trading the following day on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
Although SEC Chairman Gary Gensler cast the deciding vote to approve 11 bitcoin ETFs, he later clarified that the approval doesn’t mean the Commission has approved or endorsed bitcoin. He continued to caution investors about the risks of investing in crypto assets. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce said the delay in spot bitcoin ETF approval “squandered a decade of opportunities.”
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