BlackRock Inc.'s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has reached $5 billion in tax-deferred Bitcoin-to-ETF swaps. The milestone follows a period of strong inflows, including the fund's highest year-to-date weekly cash inflow of $1.33 billion.
The growth in in-kind conversions has been supported by regulatory developments following the United States Securities and Exchange Commission's approval of in-kind creations and redemptions. Last month, BlackRock lowered the minimum size for in-kind transactions from $25 million to $1 million, helping push the total conversion volume to $5 billion as of August 26, up from $3 billion in October.
Robbie Mitchnick, head of digital assets at BlackRock, noted that external factors such as security concerns, custody failures, kidnappings, and ransom events have motivated investors to shift holdings into the ETF.
Other market participants are also lowering barriers to in-kind transactions. The Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) reduced its minimum deal size from an initial $100 million down to $50 million, and currently stands at $3 million. Matt Hougan, chief investment officer of Bitwise, described the process as increasingly standardized while playing a role in institutionalizing Bitcoin.
Amid these developments in spot Bitcoin ETFs, Bitcoin was trading at $78,600, reflecting a 22% increase over a seven-day period and a 19.29% gain over the past six months. Bitcoin's 24-hour trading volume stood at $33.71 billion.
