BlackRock’s Global Allocation Fund increased its holdings position in iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) by 117%, totaling $17.1 billion as of Oct. 31, according to a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
As of December 24, ETF holdings have surpassed Bitcoin in value by $53 billion.
The fund disclosed that it holds approximately 430,770 shares of IBIT, which is a significant increase from the 198,874 shares reported at the end of July. Its original filing with the SEC listed just 43,000 shares.
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Rick Reeder, BlackRock’s chief investment officer for global fixed income, manages the fund. He also oversees the BlackRock Strategic Income Opportunities and BlackRock Strategic Global Bond funds. As of their most recent filings, these funds hold a combined $78 billion in IBIT stocks.
BlackRock Strategic Income Opportunities reported holding 2.1 million IBIT shares valued at about $77 billion as of Sept. 30, while BlackRock Strategic Global Bond disclosed it held 40,682, valued at approximately $1.4 million.
BlackRock has diversified its investments, including exposure to bitcoin through the IBIT trust within some of its existing investment funds. As of December 24, IBIT has accumulated over $53 billion in Bitcoin and remains the world’s largest Bitcoin fund.
The ETF has been a major force behind the success of US spot Bitcoin ETFs. In less than a year, these funds have accumulated more bitcoins than even Satoshi Nakamoto is estimated to hold.
Nate Geraci, head of the ETF Store, points out that IBIT managed to become one of the top 35 ETFs by assets, out of over 3,900, and did so in less than a year.
Data from Farside Investors shows that IBIT has attracted over $37 billion since launch, leaving other ETFs in the dust. To put that in perspective, Fidelity’s FBTC, the next largest inflow, managed just $11.8 billion — less than a third of what IBIT brought in. In essence, IBIT is the main reason why US spot Bitcoin ETFs saw a massive cash inflow of $35.4 billion.
IBIT experienced its biggest one-day drawdown since its launch on December 24, with a net outflow of $188.7 million. The negative flows came amid a slide in the cryptocurrency market that pushed bitcoin below $100,000.
The cryptocurrency soared past $99,000 on Christmas Day, but quickly retreated as the Santa rally faded. Bitcoin is currently trading at $95,664, down 3.3% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinGecko.
BlackRock’s Bitcoin ad sparks controversy
Since the launch of its flagship Bitcoin investment product, BlackRock has stepped up efforts to establish its ETF as a benchmark in the cryptocurrency sector. These efforts have also helped position Bitcoin as a legitimate and mainstream investment option.
However, not everything was accepted. The Wall Street titan recently released an ad for the IBIT fund, and members of the cryptocurrency community hated it.
The ad, available on BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF page, features a three-minute video outlining the evolution of money and key principles of Bitcoin, particularly its fixed supply of 21 million coins. However, it includes a critical disclaimer stating, “There is no guarantee that the Bitcoin supply limit of 21 million will not change.
The disclaimer has sparked controversy, even outrage, among Bitcoin enthusiasts who see the statement as a direct challenge to one of Bitcoin’s core tenets. Critics argue that such statements could undermine confidence in bitcoin’s scarcity and potentially affect the future development of the cryptocurrency’s protocol.
There are also concerns about BlackRock’s massive BTC fund, which some fear could give the firm undue influence over the management and dynamics of the Bitcoin supply.
However, some industry figures suggest that the disclaimer is only included for legal purposes and not to alter the supply of Bitcoin.
Disclaimers are standard practice among financial institutions when selling investment products, according to Blockstream CEO Adam Back.
Back noted that any changes to Bitcoin’s code would require community consensus, not BlackRock’s unilateral action.
