TL;DR
- Profitability milestone: BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) has become the firm’s most profitable fund, generating $244.5 million annually and nearing $100 billion in assets, surpassing legacy ETFs that took decades to reach similar levels.
- Investor demand: Analysts highlight IBIT’s rapid rise as proof of strong institutional and retail appetite for Bitcoin, marking a decisive shift in risk tolerance and cementing digital assets as part of the financial mainstream.
- Structural edge: Experts argue Bitcoin ETFs benefit from scarcity and disruptive potential, with inflows of $1.8 billion last week underscoring their dominance over traditional funds.
BlackRock’s IBIT ETF has recently become the most profitable ETF in the company’s history, surpassing the revenue from decade-old products. IBIT, launched nearly two years ago, is about to break through $100 billion in assets under management, a milestone that highlights the increasing demand from investors for institutionalized digital asset investment products.
$IBIT a hair away from $100 billion, is now the most profitable ETF for BlackRock by a good amount now based on current aum. Check out the ages of the rest of the Top 10. Absurd. pic.twitter.com/E8ZMI2wynx
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) October 6, 2025
IBIT’s rapid ascent in profitability
According to Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas, IBIT currently generates about $244.5 million in annual revenue for BlackRock. With $98.47 billion in assets spread across 1.38 billion shares and a 0.25% fee, the fund is only days away from surpassing the $100 billion mark. This trajectory is remarkable compared to Vanguard’s S&P 500 ETF, which required more than 2,000 days to achieve the same milestone. Balchunas highlighted the striking contrast with older funds, noting how IBIT has leapfrogged long-established products like the iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF.
Institutional and retail demand
The head of research at Apollo Crypto, Pratik Kala, highlighted that IBIT’s success reflects a strong appetite from both institutional and retail investors. He mentioned that the market made a clear shift in risk tolerance toward Bitcoin, mostly due to increasing ETF profitability. Although crypto ETFs initially raised doubts about effectively attracting mainstream capital, IBIT’s unquestionable dominance has put those doubts to rest. Kala believes that this milestone is irrefutable proof that Bitcoin has entered the financial mainstream.
Structural advantages of Bitcoin ETFs
Jagdish Pandya, founder of Blockon Ventures, argued that comparing Bitcoin ETFs with traditional funds is unfair, given Bitcoin’s unique characteristics. He pointed to scarcity, disruptive potential, and higher return prospects as structural advantages that traditional asset classes cannot match. Pandya suggested that if Bitcoin’s price were to reach $1 million, comparisons with legacy exchange-traded-funds would become irrelevant, as Bitcoin-based products would dominate profitability metrics across the industry.
Market context and future outlook
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at around $123,000, dropping less than 1%, after briefly reaching a new ATH on Monday of around $126,000. According to on-chain data, IBIT took the lion’s share from last week’s $3.2 billion spot Bitcoin exchange-traded-funds inflows, totaling, $1.8 billion, the product’s second most successful week since its debut.
