BlackRock’s New Bitcoin ETF Debuts Strong, Holding Over $120 Million in BTC

cryptonews.com:

BlackRock’s new spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) is off to a powerful start, holding 2,620 bitcoins worth over $120 million after just one day of trading. The ETF, trading under the ticker IBIT, saw immense trading volume on its first day worth $1 billion.

BlackRock’s ETF was one of 11 spot bitcoin ETFs approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday evening. The approvals marked the first time spot bitcoin ETFs were permitted to launch in the US, ending a long streak of rejections stretching back over a decade.

All told there were 700,000 individual trades today in and out of the 11 spot ETFs. For context, that is double the number of trades for $QQQ (altho it sees much bigger $ volume bc bigger fish use it) So a lot more grassroots action (vs big seed buys) than I expected which is… pic.twitter.com/syUGfjHQpr

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) January 11, 2024

Industry observers had anxiously awaited the SEC’s decision for months. When the approvals finally came through, issuers moved swiftly to bring their ETFs to market the very next day. Investors responded enthusiastically, trading over $4.6 billion worth of shares on the first day.

Among the approved issuers, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) came out on top as an early leader, racking up over $1 billion in trading volume. As the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock was widely expected to see strong demand for its Bitcoin ETF.

Experts point out that this week’s launch of Bitcoin spot ETFs has opened the floodgates for billions of dollars in institutional capital to start flowing into the crypto market. For BlackRock, being first out of the gate with a top-performing product places them in a prime position to capitalize on this