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BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) bought $195.6 million worth of Bitcoin yesterday, according to on-chain data from Arkham. That lifts the fund’s total over the past month to $1.57 billion.
One fund, carrying the category
Flow data puts IBIT’s net inflow for the session at $195.57 million. No other fund contributed more that day.
The whole group of US spot Bitcoin ETFs finished the day with a net inflow of $102.67 million. That figure is smaller than IBIT’s haul alone.
The arithmetic is simple. If one fund took in more than the entire category’s net total, the other funds were collectively net sellers that session.
The positive day also flipped the script from the prior session. Spot Bitcoin ETFs had posted an outflow of approximately $149 million before IBIT’s buying turned the tally green again.
Zoom out to 30 days and the picture is steadier. The spot Bitcoin ETF category drew about $2.99 billion in net inflows over that stretch, and IBIT remained the top recipient.
Set IBIT’s $1.57 billion against the roughly $2.99 billion category figure, and BlackRock’s fund accounts for more than half of the month’s net money on those numbers.
Bitcoin traded above $86,000 during the reported session.
How an ETF actually buys Bitcoin
IBIT works through authorized participants. These are large trading firms that create new ETF shares when investor demand rises and redeem them when demand falls.
When investors buy more IBIT shares than are available, new shares get created. To keep each share backed by real Bitcoin on a 1:1 basis, the fund has to acquire the matching amount of the asset.
That mechanical link is why IBIT flows get watched so closely. They translate brokerage-account demand directly into buying pressure on the underlying asset.
The backstory: from approval to heavyweight
IBIT launched in January 2024, after the US Securities and Exchange Commission approved spot Bitcoin ETFs.
It is now the largest US spot Bitcoin ETF by assets under management, with AUM reaching $109.34 billion following the latest reporting.
IBIT charges a management fee of 0.25%, and BlackRock brings a distribution network that reaches advisers, wealth platforms and institutions that smaller issuers struggle to access.
What this means for investors and the ETF market
A growing share of institutional demand for Bitcoin appears to be flowing through regulated products like IBIT rather than direct ownership of the coins.
The category went from an outflow of approximately $149 million to an inflow of $102.67 million in consecutive sessions.
A month of $1.57 billion in IBIT buying points to a sustained trend rather than a one-day blip.
At $109.34 billion in AUM, IBIT is already the benchmark the rest of the spot Bitcoin ETF market gets measured against.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
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