BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund has generated nearly $245 million in fees over the past year, making it now the most profitable ETF for the firm by a wide margin.
The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) currently beats the iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF (IWF) and the iShares MSCI EAFE ETF (EFA) by $25 million in annual revenue, BlackRock ETF analyst Eric Balchunas posted to X on Monday.
IBIT became the most profitable BlackRock ETF when it surpassed IWF and EFA around mid-July, as previous X posts from Balchunas show.
Every other BlackRock ETF in the top 12 by fee revenue has been around more than a decade, Balchunas noted on Monday, while adding that IBIT is now “a hair” — or $2.2 billion — away from reaching the $100 billion milestone despite launching just 22 months ago.
BlackRock generates revenue from IBIT through management fees — currently 0.25% of its total assets under management, with revenue increasing as investor demand and Bitcoin’s (BTC) price rise.
IBIT is the dominant spot Bitcoin fund in the US. Last week, the fund accounted for more than $1.8 billion of the $3.2 billion in total inflows into US spot Bitcoin ETFs in its second-largest week on record. Bitcoin broke the $125,000 mark for the first time over the weekend.
Increased demand for spot Bitcoin ETFs has also been driven by Washington’s warming attitude toward crypto under the Trump administration, which has promised to make America the “crypto capital of the world.”
IBIT set to be fastest ever ETF to $100 billion
With $97.8 billion in net assets amassed in just 435 days, IBIT is on track to surpass Vanguard’s S&P 500 index fund (VOO) and become the first ETF to cross $100 billion, Balchunas noted. VOO reached $100 billion in 2,011 days (around five and a half years).
BlackRock is exploring a new way to make revenue from Bitcoin
BlackRock filed to register a Delaware trust company for its proposed Bitcoin Premium Income ETF late last month, signaling a push to broaden its Bitcoin offerings.
BlackRock’s proposed product would sell covered call options on Bitcoin futures, collecting premiums to generate yield.
Related: Harvard endowment invests $116M into BlackRock Bitcoin ETF
The regular distributions would, however, trade away potential upside from investing in IBIT, which mirrors Bitcoin’s price movements.
Balchunas said the move indicated that BlackRock would continue to propose products tied to Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) and not join the altcoin ETF frenzy that other asset managers are seeking to offer — at least for now.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has paused reviews on crypto ETF applications until the federal government reopens.
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