BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF Picks Up Pace in Race to Overtake Grayscale's GBTC

BlackRock’s hot new Bitcoin ETF product is fast catching up with Grayscale’s in terms of assets under management (AUM)—with the gap now standing at under $4 billion.

The BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) as of today has $18.1 billion in assets. The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) has $21.9 billion. That’s a difference of $3.8 billion.

Last week, the difference between the two funds’ assets under management was $6 billion. The gap is closing quickly. 

Experts and industry observers told Decrypt last week that IBIT would flip GBTC by May—but if things keep up, it could happen as soon as this month. 

IBIT has been massively popular since it received approval to trade from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in January. The product comes from the world’s biggest and most prestigious asset manager. It also has low fees at 0.12% for the first 12 months and then 0.25% after that.

GBTC may be a huge name in the crypto world, given its long-running stretch before converting to a proper spot ETF, but its fee stands at 1.5%—meaning that investors are cashing out to move to cheaper products, experts have told Decrypt.

The fund also is redeeming shares at a rapid rate as failed crypto companies with exposure to the product claw back cash for ex-clients as part of their bankruptcy processes. 

As a result, hundreds of millions of dollars have left the fund. But Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein said Wednesday in a Reuters interview that the outflows were approaching “equilibrium.”

Edited by Andrew Hayward