BlackRock’s Head of Digital Assets, Robert Mitchnick, says the explosive success of the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) is only the beginning. Speaking with Bloomberg’s ETF IQ on June 9, Mitchnick described the Bitcoin ETF phenomenon as being in its “very early” phase, with institutional capital still gradually working through onboarding and due diligence pipelines.
“Very Early” For Bitcoin ETFs
“There has been nothing like this,” Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas said, citing IBIT’s unprecedented growth. The ETF reached $70 billion in assets under management in just 341 days—a record-breaking pace compared to the previous fastest, GLDY, which took 1,691 days. “Just ridiculous numbers here,” Balchunas added.
Mitchnick credited this historic inflow to a combination of retail enthusiasm and the beginning stages of professional allocation. “It is a lot of things coming together,” he said. “You don’t get a chart like that without a confluence of actors all occurring at the same time.”
He continued: “Out of the gate it was retail and investor demand, and that ran the gamut of small retail investors to ultra net worth. Now, more recently, we have seen steady progress of more wealth advisor adoption, more institutional adoption.”
But despite IBIT’s dominance and the sector-wide momentum, Mitchnick stressed that institutional penetration remains low. “Very early,” he said when asked how far wealth advisor adoption is. “What we have seen is a concerted effort by most of the largest firms to progress through their diligence and research and approval process… You’ve seen that fast-tracked by a number of firms. We’re talking by quarters, not months.”
That timeline reflects the structural reality of traditional asset management, where new ETF approval involves multi-year workflows. “Slowly but surely,” Mitchnick noted, “you have seen an acceleration, particularly in the last couple months, of more notable firms lowering barriers, granting approval to their advisors to use this, and that is set to continue.”
Beyond regulatory comfort, Bitcoin’s evolving risk profile is playing a pivotal role in institutional interest. “Bitcoin is a volatile asset,” Mitchnick acknowledged. “At the same time, its risk and return drivers are markedly different from most of the rest of the assets in a traditional portfolio. That is important.”
He underscored the appeal of Bitcoin’s low correlation with traditional assets. “When institutions are looking at this, they are heavily focused on that correlation—whether it is zero or, even in some periods, negative. Then the portfolio construction case is compelling to them,” he explained. “When you look at this as a global scarce emerging monetary alternative with a whole set of risk and return factors, that correlation is what should prevail.”
Asked whether the crowded Bitcoin ETF market—with a dozen products now trading—might need consolidation, Mitchnick responded optimistically. “A lot of them have been very successful. IBIT has been the leader by a fair margin, but there’s such demand that it is exciting… That is a good thing.”
And Ethereum?
On the subject of Ethereum and the forthcoming iShares ETH ETF, Mitchnick was more cautious. “It is a little more of a retail-concentrated investor base than we have seen with IBIT,” he said. “The institutional investment thesis with Bitcoin as a growing global alternative is resonating quite strongly. But when we talk about Ether, there is an exciting story there, but it is more about a technology story. That is a much harder case for a lot of institutions to underwrite, especially compared to other technology things.”
Ultimately, Mitchnick framed BlackRock’s digital asset strategy not as a short-term marketing play, but as a gradual integration of Bitcoin into global portfolio theory. “Many of our clients are watching closely,” he said. “We believe this is just the beginning of a multi-year journey that will redefine asset allocation globally.”
With IBIT continuing to lead the pack in flows and performance—up 121% since inception—BlackRock appears well-positioned not only to ride the ETF wave but to shape its direction. “This is still the very early days,” Mitchnick reiterated. “The story is far from over.”
At press time, BTC traded at $109,625.
Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
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