BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Flipped GBTC in Less Than 100 Trading Days

By Stacy Elliott

BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF now holds more BTC than its rival, the longstanding Grayscale Bitcoin Trust.

And, as K33 Research senior analyst Vetle Lunde pointed out on Twitter, "IBIT needed only 96 days to close GBTC's huge lead."

When U.S. markets closed on Tuesday, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) had 288,671 BTC compared to GBTC's 287,454. The flip happened after GBTC saw $105 million worth of outflows and IBIT saw $102 million worth of inflows on Tuesday, according to Coinglass.

At times, analysts thought IBIT would close the gap even sooner than it did. And GBTC has seen brief spikes in deposits—although it's possible traders were using shares to short Bitcoin.

The news comes just a day after the Bitcoin fund category reaches a significant milestone, now holding a total of 1 million BTC. The total, tracked and calculated by HODL15Capital, isn't just limited to the nine new U.S. ETFs and newly converted GBTC. It also includes ETFs in Germany, Canada, and the recently launched funds that are now trading in Hong Kong.

Since the spot Bitcoin ETFs began trading in January, Grayscale has argued that its flagship fund wouldn't be flipped by BlackRock.

During a podcast interview in April, former Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein said that the firm had expected a spike in outflows after it was converted and in direct competition with funds that had much lower fees, but that it was reaching "equilibrium."

"We knew coming into this and anticipated that there would be some outflows," he said at the time. "GBTC is the collateral that was inside some of the bankruptcy estates around the crypto ecosystem." Those liquidations had been "forced," he said.

Even before the spot Bitcoin ETFs were approved to begin trading, it was clear that the newcomers saw undercutting GBTC's fee as the easiest way to get a leg up. GBTC charges a fee of 1.5%. But rival Bitcoin ETF fees top out at 0.25%—and many of the funds offered even lower fees, or none at all, when they first launched.

Grayscale has more recently announced that Sonnenshein will be stepping down in August, although it didn't make any mention of GBTC.

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