Last week, Wall Street experienced a surge in demand for Bitcoin products, with BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund attracting $1.1 billion in new investments.
Bitcoin (BTC) has established itself as a key interest for U.S. wealth management giant BlackRock, as its spot Bitcoin ETF has surpassed various traditional finance offerings.
Investors have pumped $26 billion into BlackRock’s IBIT, just 10 months after the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs in mid-January. The fund now ranks among the top 2% of all ETFs in the U.S., and last week’s influx marked another significant milestone for BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF.
IBIT accounted for 50% of the $2.2 billion in inflows registered by U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs from October 14 to October 18. The $1.1 billion influx propelled IBIT to the third-highest flows year-to-date, marking its best week since March and solidifying its position as the fastest-growing ETF on Wall Street and in financial history.
The impressive performance of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs has attracted ongoing media coverage and stimulated policy discussions regarding Bitcoin as an asset class. In contrast, Ethereum (ETH) spot Ether ETFs have achieved relatively modest milestones compared to their Bitcoin counterparts.
BlackRock’s IBIT alone has eclipsed the $7.35 billion total deposited across all spot Ethereum ETFs. Nevertheless, Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan remains confident in the future success of Ethereum ETFs.
Hougan pointed out that while Ethereum ETFs may have been launched prematurely, the growing ecosystem of Ethereum and its appeal to institutional investors through smart contract functionalities will likely draw more capital into ETH-focused funds in the future.
Additionally, the existing crypto funds have inspired new applications for digital asset ETFs. Bitwise has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an ETF focused on (XRP) and a BTC-Treasury ETF. Canary Capital, founded by Steven McClurg of Valkyrie, has also applied for a spot Litecoin (LTC) fund.
