BlackRock Quietly Accumulates Shares of Its Bitcoin ETF, Underscoring Its Growing Commitment to the Cryptocurrency

As of March 31, 2025, the BlackRock Strategic Income Opportunities Portfolio held 2,123,592 shares of the company's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), valued at $99.4 million

BlackRock has been quietly accumulating shares of its own Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) in one of its in-house portfolios, a move that highlights the asset manager’s growing commitment to the cryptocurrency as part of a broader diversification strategy.

As of March 31, the BlackRock Strategic Income Opportunities Portfolio held 2,123,592 shares of the company’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), valued at $99.4 million, according to filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

This represents a substantial increase from December 31, 2024, when the portfolio held 1,691,143 IBIT shares.

Among 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs approved by the SEC in January 2024, BlackRock’s IBIT has emerged as the largest fund in its category with over $72 billion in net assets, according to Bitbo data. In comparison, the second-largest US Bitcoin ETF is the Fidelity (W:FDLY) Wise Origin Fund (FBTC), which lags IBIT by around $50 billion in net assets.

The Strategic Income Opportunities Portfolio is primarily a bond-focused strategy that also seeks diversified exposure to other markets, aiming to maximize total return potential while preserving capital, as stated in BlackRock’s prospectus.

The portfolio's investments are guided by a macroeconomic and relative value framework, seeking to identify and capitalize on attractive opportunities across various asset classes, including fixed income, equity, and other marketable securities.

The portfolio allocates a portion of its assets to IBIT, demonstrating the asset manager’s interest in providing diversified investment products and solutions to meet the evolving needs of its clients.

As institutional investors continue to allocate funds to cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin, the demand for spot Bitcoin ETFs has soared since their launch earlier this year.

In their debut year, US spot Bitcoin ETFs have smashed records, setting the stage for an interesting 2025.

May has already emerged as a record month for spot ETFs, seeing more than $1.5 billion in net inflows over just two days, and the stellar performance of IBIT is a key factor.

Since April 9, IBIT has consistently seen inflows, with two days reporting net buys exceeding $500 million.

This influx of capital indicates that asset managers are buying shares of the Bitcoin ETFs to keep pace with the surging demand from investors.

Highlighting the broader picture, asset manager Bitwise recently projected that Bitcoin fund inflows could reach $120 billion this year and more than double to $300 billion by 2026.

While spot Bitcoin ETFs have opened the door for retail and institutional investors, a major untapped market remains: the wealth management platforms and wirehouses of major institutions, Bitwise analysts Juan Leon, Guillaume Girard and Will Owens wrote in the report.