BLACKROCK BUYS MORE BITCOIN

BlackRock Deepens Its Bitcoin Bet with $970 Million Investment, Marking Institutional Confidence Surge
This week, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) captured market attention with a bold move—purchasing approximately $970 million worth of Bitcoin. This substantial acquisition marks one of the most significant single-day inflows into the fund since its inception, signaling a robust and growing institutional appetite for the world’s leading cryptocurrency.
On April 28, IBIT recorded its second-largest daily inflow to date, adding around 10,360 BTC to its holdings. The only larger single-day inflow came on November 7, 2024, when the ETF attracted a staggering $1.12 billion. This recent surge underscores not only BlackRock’s continued commitment to Bitcoin but also a broader shift in institutional perception, viewing digital assets as a more secure and viable investment option.
While many U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw minimal activity or even experienced net outflows that day, BlackRock’s aggressive accumulation stood in sharp contrast. The overall net inflow across all U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs on April 28 reached $590 million—an impressive figure made possible largely by BlackRock’s contribution. Meanwhile, ARK Invest’s ARKB ETF posted the largest outflow among its peers, shedding $226 million, highlighting divergent strategies among major institutional players.
This significant investment helped drive a strong upward move in Bitcoin’s price, which posted its largest weekly gain since the U.S. presidential election in November 2024. Market analysts have suggested that this inflow, alongside dwindling supply and heightened demand, may have provided a solid foundation for Bitcoin’s price recovery and potential rally to new highs.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust now holds over $54 billion in assets under management, capturing 51% of the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF market share. This achievement not only cements its position as the largest Bitcoin ETF globally but also signals the mainstreaming of Bitcoin among traditional investors. IBIT has now surpassed Grayscale’s long-standing Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) in both size and investor appeal.
Following the latest inflows, IBIT ranks as the 33rd largest ETF globally, including both traditional financial products and crypto-focused funds. Perhaps more impressively, the ETF now controls about 2.4% of the total Bitcoin supply—a figure nearing that of major corporate Bitcoin holder MicroStrategy, which owns around 2.6%. With holdings of approximately 510,000 BTC, BlackRock’s ETF is inching closer to the legendary stash attributed to Bitcoin’s mysterious creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, who is estimated to own roughly 1.1 million BTC.
The rise in institutional interest over the past year has helped transform Bitcoin from a speculative asset into a more credible component of a diversified portfolio. As more financial institutions allocate capital to Bitcoin ETFs, the asset’s integration into the broader financial system appears inevitable. This shift may pave the way for new all-time highs and more widespread adoption of Bitcoin and blockchain technology in mainstream finance.
What do you think about these developments? Are institutions like BlackRock holding too much Bitcoin, or is this a natural progression for digital assets entering traditional markets?