Analyst Eric Balchunas from Bloomberg has highlighted the exceptional debut of BlackRock and Fidelity’s IBIT and FBTC spot Bitcoin ETFs, approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Jan. 10, 2024, as the best-performing ETF launch in the last three decades.
During their first month of trading, these ETFs attracted more assets than any other exchange-traded fund in the United States. However, Balchunas’ assessment only considers ETFs present at the time of their launch, excluding all conversions, including around 100 mutual fund conversions to ETFs and GBTCs.
Balchunas noted that most of the outflow from GBTC was attributed to FTX and proprietary traders, indicating a discount likely not intended for another BTC ETF. He emphasized that the intense competition among the 10 ETFs launching on the same day, coupled with reputable issuers, drove efforts to secure inflows from various angles.
By the end of January, Bitcoin exchange-traded funds from BlackRock and Fidelity had entered the top ten largest American ETFs by asset inflows, totaling $4.8 billion. The iShares Bitcoin Trust saw a net inflow of $2.6 billion, ranking eighth, while the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin ETF secured tenth place with $2.2 billion. Meanwhile, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC) experienced the second-largest net outflow for the month, amounting to $5.7 billion.