Bitcoin has just rewritten the rules of high finance—again. In a move that’s making Wall Street and Silicon Valley sit up straight, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has smashed ETF records by reaching $70 billion in assets under management (AUM) in just 341 days. The world’s largest asset manager is now the fastest to ever hit this milestone, outrunning even legacy assets like the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), which took over 4.5 years to cross the same threshold.
In other words: Bitcoin is no longer the outsider. It’s become the institution
This meteoric rise, since the ETF’s January 2024 debut, is more than just a market fluke. It signals the accelerating legitimization of Bitcoin in the eyes of institutional finance—and the growing appetite for crypto among high-net-worth individuals, hedge funds, and wealth managers. While Fidelity’s Bitcoin ETF has also grown in the same period, BlackRock has dominated the narrative, more than tripling its rival’s market cap.
$IBIT just blew through $70b and is now the fastest ETF to ever hit that mark in only 341 days, which is 5x faster than the old record held by GLD of 1,691 days. Nice chart from @JackiWang17 pic.twitter.com/5VeGT9twpQ
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) June 9, 2025
And it’s not just paper value. IBIT now holds a staggering 3.3% of Bitcoin’s maximum supply, cementing BlackRock as one of the largest Bitcoin custodians on Earth. In recent weeks alone, the ETF has onboarded $2.5 billion worth of Bitcoin, continuing a buying spree that mirrors growing investor sentiment: Bitcoin isn’t just a speculative bet—it’s becoming a cornerstone of modern portfolios.
Naturally, this kind of institutional momentum ripples out into the open market. Bitcoin’s price recently surged 2%, breaking past $107,860, buoyed by investor confidence and ETF inflows. But the story doesn’t end with BlackRock.
According to Whale Alert, the blockchain monitoring service, two colossal Bitcoin transfers—875 BTC and 997 BTC, worth nearly $200 million combined—were recently moved from Kraken to unknown wallets. These kinds of cold-storage moves are rarely made by casual traders. They typically reflect long-term strategic positioning by crypto whales or institutional players banking on future appreciation.
The symbolism is striking: As one of the oldest forms of wealth preservation, gold has long been the benchmark for institutional trust. But the pace at which Bitcoin is eclipsing gold in investor interest tells a new story. This isn’t a digital novelty anymore. It’s a global reserve asset in the making.
BlackRock’s ETF performance makes one thing abundantly clear: Bitcoin is no longer an alternative. It’s the new foundation.
