BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has achieved a remarkable milestone, surpassing $10 billion in assets under management (AUM) in just over seven weeks. This achievement is particularly notable when compared to the first U.S. gold-backed ETF, which took more than two years to reach the same figure after its launch.
As of March 1, BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF reached $10 billion in AUM, a feat accomplished in approximately 39 trading days since its launch. In contrast, the SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), the first gold ETF in the United States, took more than two years to achieve the same level of AUM after its introduction in 2004, according to the Zero Hedge finance blog.
The significant growth of the iShares Bitcoin Trust has far outpaced that of gold. Reflexivity Research co-founder Will Clemente emphasized this point, stating, “Bitcoin ETF inflows have absolutely blown gold’s out of the water. Not even close, utterly dwarfed, decimated.” Last week, there were several days of record inflows to spot Bitcoin ETFs, with February 26, 27, and 28 exceeding $500 billion for the new nine.
Retired venture capitalist Jeff Kirdeikis shared a chart on March 4 that compared the inflows of Bitcoin ETFs with the outflows of gold funds. He noted that Bitcoin products have already accumulated nearly half the value of gold funds since their launch in January.
Despite Bitcoin’s success, goldbug Peter Schiff remains unswayed. On March 2, he criticized CNBC for being fixated on Bitcoin and the new Bitcoin ETFs, stating that they failed to report on the $43 rise in the price of gold or the new record-high price in the gold ETF GLD.
While spot gold prices returned to near-peak levels of $2,081 per ounce on March 3, the precious metal has only seen a 1% increase since the beginning of the year. In comparison, Bitcoin prices have surged by 50% over the same period.
In late February, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas commented on the situation, saying, “Gold’s pain is Bitcoin ETFs’ gain in the store of value smackdown.” He further predicted that there was a “decent chance” that Bitcoin ETFs would surpass gold ETFs in AUM within two years.
In conclusion, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust has achieved a remarkable milestone, surpassing $10 billion in AUM in just over seven weeks. This rapid growth outpaces that of the first U.S. gold-backed ETF and highlights the increasing popularity of Bitcoin as an investment option.