U.S. Bitcoin Funds Attract $363.7 Million Over Five Sessions, Led by BlackRock
Key Facts
U.S. spot Bitcoin funds attracted net inflows of $363.7 million over the five sessions ended October 19, according to a TokenPost report, with money returning to the products at the end of the period. The period covered the October 13, 14, 15, 16 and 19 sessions. Net inflows in the final session reached $526.7 million, according to Farside Investors figures, exceeding the total for the entire period. The rebound followed net outflows of $82.4 million in the October 16 session. TokenPost said cumulative net inflows since the funds' launch reached $57.476 billion through the October 19 session.
Inflows were concentrated in BlackRock's IBIT fund, which attracted $665.2 million on October 19, according to Farside Investors. By contrast, Fidelity's FBTC fund recorded outflows of $83.6 million in the same session. Investors also withdrew $54.9 million from Grayscale's GBTC fund. Inflows into BlackRock's fund thus exceeded net inflows into the Bitcoin fund group, with outflows from other products offsetting part of that increase. U.S. Ethereum funds moved in the opposite direction, recording net outflows of $103.3 million on the same day, according to Farside Investors.
In market trading, IBIT shares rose 0.33% during the October 19 session, coinciding with the rebound in Bitcoin fund inflows, according to historical prices published by Investing.com. The shares closed the session at $46.30. A market snapshot published by the website on October 17 had put Bitcoin's price at $81,558.1. The cryptocurrency recorded a decline of 0.73% in that snapshot. BlackRock's fund documentation warns that the price an investor receives when selling shares in the market may be higher or lower than the value of the Bitcoin those shares represent.
IBIT seeks to reflect the performance of Bitcoin's price, according to the product prospectus issued by BlackRock and iShares. The sponsor fee is 0.25%, according to the same prospectus. The fund's inception date is January 5, 2024. When U.S. Bitcoin funds began trading in January 2024, the value of shares traded reached $4.6 billion by the afternoon of launch day, according to a Reuters report citing London Stock Exchange Group data. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said when approving trading in the products: "While we approved the listing and trading of certain spot bitcoin ETP shares today, we did not approve or endorse bitcoin."
On the mechanics of these products, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allowed authorized participants to create and redeem shares in kind. The authorization covered crypto asset exchange-traded products, after previous spot Bitcoin and Ethereum products had been limited to cash transactions. SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda said cash redemptions require authorized participants to redeem their shares for U.S. dollars. He added that this forces the issuer to buy or sell the crypto asset in the open market. The SEC said in its announcement that authorized participants "will be permitted to create and redeem shares on an in-kind basis."
In the U.S. economy, the producer price index for final demand rose 1.3% month on month in September on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in its report published on October 15. In a separate report released the same day, the Labor Department announced that seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims rose to 199,000. The reading covered the week ended October 10. The increase was 1,000 claims from the previous week's revised level, according to the department. The Federal Reserve's next Federal Open Market Committee meeting is scheduled for October 27 and 28, 2026, according to the calendar published by the U.S. central bank.