BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF hits 6-week inflow high amid early-week BTC rally

BlackRock’s IBIT recorded $290 million in inflow on Tuesday, more than the fund has seen in the past 21 trading days combined.

BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) made up 95% of the total inflow into United States spot Bitcoin ETFs on Tuesday — which together raked in over $300 million in net inflow. 

According to preliminary data from Farside Investors, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) posted a large inflow of $290 million on May 21. The net inflow for all eleven ETF issuers combined was $305.7 million.

This is the highest inflow for BlackRock ETF since April 5, reversing a trend of zero or very low inflows for the past six weeks or so.

The latest figure is also more than the fund has seen coming in for the past 21 trading days combined.

Overall, more than $1 billion has gone back into spot Bitcoin ETFs over the past four trading days amid a choppy Bitcoin rally. 

With the latest daily figures added, the BlackRock fund has now totaled $16 billion of inflows since launch, according to Farside Investors, however, the official website for the product shows assets under management of $19 billion.

This puts BlackRock’s IBIT very close to industry leader Grayscale, which has $20 billion AUM for its GBTC spot ETF, according to the official website.

Meanwhile, GBTC registered a zero flow on May 21, bringing the number of trading days without an outflow to five. The fund has seen inflows of $72.5 billion over the past five days, reversing a four-month trend of consistent outflows.

However, Tuesday’s big inflow figure was not without some bleeding. The VanEck Bitcoin Trust ETF (HODL) saw an outflow of $5.9 million and the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) outflowed $4.2 million.

The Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) saw a minor inflow of $25.8 million; the rest were zeros.

Related: Vanguard’s new boss says Bitcoin ETF not on the table

Bitcoin ETF enthusiasm has been driven by an uptick in BTC prices over the past week, during which the asset has gained 12%.

BTC hit a six-week high of $71,600 on May 21 but retreated below the $70,000 level during early trading on May 22 where it was changing hands for $69,444 at the time of writing.

The premise of the Securities and Exchange Commission potentially approving spot Ethereum ETFs in the United States has also buoyed crypto markets this week.