BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin $76,133 A spot bitcoin ETF called Trust (IBIT) surpassed the total holdings of the firm’s 19-year-old iShares Gold Trust (IAU) gold ETF, two days after Americans elected crypto-friendly Donald Trump as president.
Gold and Bitcoin
iShares Bitcoin Trust’s net assets rose to $33.2 billion as of Thursday. This is up nearly 10% since the beginning of the month. BlackRock’s iShares Gold Trust (IAU) surpassed IBIT with $33 billion in net assets.
We can say that the customers of BlackRock, which manages $10 trillion in assets, are now more interested in Bitcoin than Gold. This is data that supports the claims of those who say Bitcoin is better than Gold.
Bitcoin and Gold Markets
Following Trump’s victory, the BTC price reached new record highs, rising almost 12% since election day. The gold price reached $2,789 per ounce on October 31 and remained stable at $2,686 at the time of writing.
U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs received net inflows of about $1.4 billion on Thursday. This is largely related to increased demand for risky assets due to Trump’s election win and the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates by 25 basis points.
“ETF flows have risen to truly abnormal levels since the inception of Bitcoin ETF trading, outperforming Gold by a factor of 10 in its first year.” – André Dragosch, Head of European Research at Bitwise.
A total of 11 US spot bitcoin ETFs have $78.5 billion in net assets, with BlackRock’s IBIT accounting for 42% of that figure.
The rapid growth of the Bitcoin ETF demonstrates investor demand for the largest cryptocurrency. IBIT was launched in January 2024, while the BlackRock Gold ETF was launched in January 2005, years before Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin whitepaper.
The increase in investment in Bitcoin ETFs is strengthening the acceptance of cryptocurrency markets as financial instruments. While investors evaluate the potential returns of crypto assets, they also maintain interest in traditional commodities.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that crypto currencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should carry out their transactions in line with their own research.