BlackRock CEO shocked by explosive growth of Bitcoin ETF amid $10 trillion oversight

• Larry Fink expressed surprise at the notable surge in the Bitcoin spot ETF.
• The BlackRock ETF raised $10 billion in its first few weeks and now boasts $17 billion in assets.
• These figures put IBIT in close competition with Grayscale’s GBTC, which currently holds $23 billion in assets.

In a recent interview with FOX Business, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink was surprised by the notable surge in Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs), particularly those managed by his company. With BlackRock overseeing $10 trillion, Fink’s surprising admission highlights the feat of Bitcoin’s unprecedented rise in the U.S. cryptocurrency ETF market.

“I am very optimistic about the long-term viability of Bitcoin,” Fink declared, acknowledging the cryptocurrency’s recent milestone of hitting an all-time high of $72,850. He commented on the rapid growth of the market:

I was surprised how much it went up… She was pleasantly surprised. And we never would have predicted it before we submitted it.

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, which trades under the symbol IBIT, raised a whopping $10 billion in its initial weeks and now boasts $17 billion in assets. These figures mean IBIT is in close competition with Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust, which currently holds $23 billion in assets. Fink declared IBIT “the fastest-growing ETF in ETF history.”

In particular, the surge in Bitcoin-based investment funds occurred after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved the first cryptocurrency spot ETF in January. This move democratized access to Bitcoin investment for institutional and retail investors.

The appeal of Bitcoin ETFs has fueled significant gains in the cryptocurrency, outperforming traditional assets. For example, BTC has surged a whopping 54% this year alone, outperforming the S&P 500.

Moreover, FOX’s report suggested that capital inflows into Bitcoin ETFs are rivaling the demand for gold, which has historically been considered one of the safest assets. Wells Fargo Institute’s John LaForge and Mason Mendez observed that U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs attracted $30.6 billion in a matter of weeks, compared to five years of investment by spot-based gold ETFs.