BlackRock’s Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF), known as IBIT, has seen a significant surge in pre-market trading, with a 25% increase. This comes after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) declared the registration statement for BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF effective.
IBIT, an Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) that aims to mirror the value of Bitcoin, commenced its trading activities on the Nasdaq exchange on January 11, 2024. This ETF provides a practical and economical avenue for investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin.
Dominik Rohe, who leads the Americas iShares ETF and Index Investing business at BlackRock expressed that IBIT is designed to alleviate some of the challenges and operational complexities that could deter a range of investors, including asset managers and financial advisors, from investing directly in Bitcoin.
BlackRock, a leading provider of financial technology, has over 20 years of experience and more than 1,300 ETFs globally. The company’s purpose is to help more and more people experience financial well-being by making investing easier and more affordable.
IBIT Has Been a Success on Launch Date
The Bitcoin ETF, IBIT, has seen a substantial exchange of shares worth $2 million in pre-market trading. This observation of considerable trading volume was highlighted by Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg.
$IBIT has already traded $2m worth of shares traded. That would be a great first FULL day for a normal ETF let alone at 6am bf mkt, BUT.. this volume is likely BlackRock orchestrated, slowly loading in the BYOA $ it had lined up. Still tho good early sign of big day. pic.twitter.com/IV19iHfqYB
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) January 11, 2024
Balchunas noted that such a high volume of trade would be considered impressive for a regular ETF’s initial full day of trading. However, he also expressed a word of caution, suggesting that BlackRock might have played a role in this initial surge of volume.
As of January 11, the fund’s Net Asset Value (NAV) stood at $27.50. BlackRock has decided to forgo a part of the Sponsor’s Fee for the initial 12 months starting today, resulting in a fee of 0.12% of the Trust’s net asset value for the first $5.0 billion of the Trust’s assets.
The launch of IBIT marks a significant milestone in the cryptocurrency market, providing investors with a new avenue to gain exposure to Bitcoin. The strong pre-market performance of IBIT indicates a positive market reception and underscores the growing interest in digital assets among traditional investors. As the world of finance continues to evolve, products like IBIT are likely to play an increasingly important role.
