Asset management giant BlackRock added $4.1 million worth of Bitcoin ETF spot shares to two of its funds, according to a May 28 SEC filing.
The asset manager added $3.6 million in iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) shares to its BlackRock Strategic Income Opportunities Portfolio (BSIIX).
The firm also added $486,000 worth of IBIT shares to the BlackRock Strategic Global Bond fund (MAWIX).
Each purchase will cover additions through the first quarter of 2024. BlackRock disclosed plans to add IBIT to other funds in a March 8 SEC filing.
The company also reported holding $6.6 million in IBIT stock in a May 10 13F filing.
Hundreds of investors
BlackRock has a range of investments in IBIT, putting the firm alongside a number of third parties that bought shares in the spot Bitcoin ETF in the first quarter.
At least 422 companies have publicly disclosed their IBIT holdings, according to Fintel data as of May 28.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas recently commented on the spot Bitcoin ETF having hundreds of investors, noting that even having “20 people” in it would be significant for the nascent ETF.
IBIT is the most popular spot ETF, accounting for about half of the 929 companies that disclosed investments in the first quarter.
The largest positions in IBIT are held by Millennium Management and Schonfeld Strategic Advisors, with $844.2 million and $248 million, respectively.
Several globally systemically important banks (G-SIBs) have also invested in IBIT, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, BNY Mellon, BNP Paribas, UBS and Royal Bank of England.
IBIT has a high reputation
The latest investment comes as IBIT continues to lead the way in outflows, with net outflows of $16.4 billion as of May 24, nearly double the second-highest net outflow to date from Fidelity's FBTC.
IBIT reported assets under management (AUM) of $17.2 billion as of May 28, representing 31% of the total AUM of all spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Grayscale's GBTC exceeds IBIT with $20 billion in assets under management, accounting for 37% of the total, but has seen net outflows of $17.7 billion since inception.
