BlackRock Buys $3.85B in Bitcoin as IBIT Surpasses S&P 500 Fund

BlackRock has significantly expanded its Bitcoin holdings, acquiring approximately $3.85 billion worth of the cryptocurrency in June 2025. This accumulation occurred through multiple transactions, including a notable $1.4 billion purchase executed over six consecutive days. These acquisitions have bolstered the firm’s total Bitcoin assets to over $75 billion, positioning BlackRock as a leading institutional holder of the digital currency.

The firm’s aggressive investment strategy aligns with the success of its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) launched in January 2024. IBIT has rapidly gained traction, amassing over $75 billion in assets under management (AUM) and capturing more than 55% of the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF market. This growth reflects a significant shift in investor interest towards regulated cryptocurrency investment vehicles.

IBIT’s financial performance has also surpassed expectations. Despite managing fewer assets than BlackRock’s flagship iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV), IBIT has generated higher annual fee revenue. As of July 2025, IBIT has accrued approximately $187.2 million in fees, slightly exceeding the $187.1 million generated by IVV. This is attributed to IBIT’s higher expense ratio of 0.25%, compared to IVV’s 0.03%.

The ETF’s rapid growth is further highlighted by its record-breaking achievement of reaching $70 billion in AUM within just 341 trading days, making it the fastest ETF to attain this milestone. This surpasses the previous record held by the SPDR Gold Shares ETF, which took 1,691 days to reach the same level.