Hold on tight, hodlers, the institutional adoption of Bitcoin is accelerating. BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, has already been on a BTC buying spree for some time. Apparently, though, it’s picking up the pace. The giant has reportedly acquired $2.4 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC) over the last few days through its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT).
Launched in January 2024, the ETF allows investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin without directly holding the cryptocurrency, simplifying the process and mitigating the complexities related to BTC wallet management. On Wednesday, iShares Bitcoin Trust experienced its largest single-day inflow of approximately $872 million, highlighting a high demand for cryptocurrency ETFs.
BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF has been tempting investors who want to diversify beyond the Magnificent Seven – a group of leading US big tech companies, namely Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta Platforms, Tesla. Accumulating BTC and stimulating market growth serves this purpose well.
BlackRock’s BTC balance started growing faster in the second half of October, with several significant purchases. On October 28, Arkham Intelligence reported the giant had bought $1 billion in BTC.
You can check its earlier and subsequent buys on Bitbo.io’s chart below.
As you can see, recent crypto shopping has brought the company’s Bitcoin holdings to over 433 thousand BTC, valued at around $30 billion, which accounts for about 2% of Bitcoin’s total supply.
BlackRock’s acquisitions mark a significant milestone in the institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies, as the company continues to expand its footprint in the crypto space. The continuous growth of the giant’s BTC holdings solidifies its position as a key player in the cryptocurrency market. It also signals growing confidence among institutional investors in Bitcoin's long-term value proposition. BlackRock’s aggressive move can as well be seen as a strategic hedge against inflation and market volatility, in times when traditional financial systems face growing challenges.
It’s worth stressing that BTC’s performance has been much better than ETH’s, which is also apparent in the ETF domain. Last week, Ethereum ETFs collectively held nearly 2.8 million ETH, valued at close to $7 billion. However, they recorded a weekly net outflow of 2,917 ETH, with a value decline of approximately $7.3 million.
