what's ishares bitcoin trust?
The iShares Bitcoin Trust is a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) launched by BlackRock, one of the world's largest asset managers, under its iShares brand. It provides investors with indirect exposure to Bitcoin by holding actual Bitcoin in custody, aiming to track the performance of Bitcoin's spot price minus fees and expenses. The ETF trades on major U.S. stock exchanges, allowing traditional investors to gain access to Bitcoin through familiar brokerage accounts without needing to manage cryptocurrency wallets or exchanges directly. Unlike futures-based Bitcoin funds, the iShares Bitcoin Trust directly purchases and stores Bitcoin through regulated custodians, ensuring security and compliance with U.S. securities regulations. It is not registered as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, operating instead as a trust that issues shares backed by Bitcoin holdings. Investors buy shares of the trust, which represent a fractional ownership of the underlying Bitcoin reserves. The product democratizes Bitcoin investment by integrating it into conventional portfolios, subject to the same regulatory oversight as other ETFs. It appeals to institutional and retail investors seeking Bitcoin exposure without the complexities of direct crypto ownership, while BlackRock handles custody, trading, and reporting to maintain transparency and liquidity.
IBIT processed $3B in-kind creations by Oct 2025; AUM fell, recent net outflows occurred.
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x.com/isharesHolds over $30 billion in assets under management as of recent filings.
Reached $61.303 billion in cumulative historical net inflows as of February 20, 2026.
Achieved trading volume of $2.4 billion on February 20, 2026.
Recorded $64.46 million net inflows (953 Bitcoin) on February 20, 2026, marking the largest single-day net inflow among Bitcoin spot ETFs.
Experienced a net outflow of $164.1 million on 2026-02-19.
Experienced net outflows of $84.2 million on February 18, 2026.
Millennium added 13.8 million shares and now holds 2.5% of shares outstanding, making it the largest holder in the latest 13F filings.
Experienced net outflow of $119.80 million on February 17, 2026. Sold $119,800,000 worth of Bitcoin on February 18, 2026.
Laurore Ltd disclosed a $436M stake (8.79M shares) in IBIT as its sole portfolio position, becoming the largest new shareholder as of year-end filing.
Mubadala Investment Company and Al Warda Investments held over $1 billion in holdings by end of 2025, representing approximately 21 million shares.
Mubadala holds $630.6 million in IBIT positions; Jane Street also accumulating.
Jane Street purchased $276 million worth of IBIT in Q4 2025, increasing their exposure by 54%.
Jane Street purchased $276 million worth of IBIT in Q4 2026, increasing their exposure by 54%.
Al Warda Investment, linked to the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, holds 8,218,712 iShares Bitcoin Trust shares after adding to its position in Q4 2025.
Alpine Fox LP holds a $41 million position in iShares Bitcoin Trust through shares and call options.
Mubadala Investment Co PJSC increased its IBIT stake by 46% in Q4 to 12,702,323 shares worth $488M, adding 3,975,351 shares.
Experienced net outflows of $234.4 million during the week ending February 17, 2026, marking the 4th consecutive week of outflows.
Jane Street accumulated 7,105,206 shares worth $276M in Q4 2025, holding a total position of 20,315,780 shares valued at $790M, becoming the second-largest net buyer and second largest position this year.
Experienced redemptions of only 0.2% of assets under management during a recent market sell-off period.
Experienced net outflows of $9.36M on February 13, 2026, as part of BlackRock's total crypto fund outflows of $18.6M.
Holds 761,802 BTC in custody as of February 12, 2026.
Experienced net outflow of $72.92 million on February 11, 2026.
Options trading hit record level, accounting for more than half of total options volume.
Recorded net inflow of $26.5 million on February 10, 2026.
Experienced net outflow of $20.9 million on 2026-02-09.
Recorded approximately $10 billion in trading volume during February 5-9, 2026.
Experienced whale selling of native BTC to enter the trust for access to its high liquidity option market.
Traded 2.33 million options contracts with $900 million in premiums February 5-9, 2026, with puts slightly dominating call volume; serves as underlying asset for the BVIV-US Index (Volmex Bitcoin ETF Volatility), tracked on Volmex Charts, TradingView, Bloomberg, and LSEG Data & Analytics under ticker $BVUS.
Processed approximately $3 billion in in-kind creations by October 2025, allowing holders to deposit Bitcoin directly in exchange for ETF shares.
Assets under management fell from $100 billion to $60 billion.
Enabled one-way swap transactions for Asian Bitcoin holders into IBIT-style rails before in-kind redemption was available, with Galaxy being the only desk capable of facilitating these swaps.
Experienced net outflows of $175 million on February 5, 2026, and $1.25 billion over a 3-day period ending February 8, 2026.
Experienced net outflow of $373.4 million on February 4, 2026.
Recorded ETF inflows exceeding $200 million on both February 2nd and February 3rd, 2026.
Recorded net inflow of $142 million on February 2, 2026.
Dollar-weighted investor returns turned negative for the first time as Bitcoin declined into the mid-$70,000s range, erasing cumulative gains.
Experienced net outflows of $136.5 million in January 2026.
Reached $50 billion AUM from $25 billion in less than 50 trading days.
Achieved a top 5 trading volume day of all time on January 29, 2026.
experienced net outflow of $14.2 million on 2026-01-28
Recorded net inflow of $15.9 million on 2026-01-26.
experienced net outflows of $56.9 million on 2026-01-20
partnered with BlackRock and Delaware Life Insurance Company to enable the industry's first fixed indexed annuity with Bitcoin exposure using IBIT
Recorded net inflows of $1,034.9 million during the week ending January 17, 2026.
Recorded net inflow of $648.4 million on 2026-01-14.
Harvard University increased its position to 6,813,612 shares valued at $442.8 million as of September 30, 2025, representing a 257% increase from June 2025.
Brown University doubled its position to 212,500 shares as of June 30, 2025, up from 105,000 shares in March 2025.
Dartmouth College acquired 201,531 shares valued at over $10 million as of December 31, 2025, representing a new position disclosed in a 13F filing.
Listed quantum computing as a risk factor in the prospectus.
Bitcoin can be exchanged for IBIT shares on a tax-free basis, enabling margin lending at up to 50% loan-to-value with rates lower than MSTR preferred financing.
Bespoke Investment data shows IBIT gained 222% during after-hours trading periods but lost 40.5% during regular U.S. trading sessions, demonstrating extreme performance divergence between trading periods.
Records net outflow of $135.4 million on December 9, 2025, while the total Bitcoin ETF market records net inflow of $151.9 million as competing ETFs FBTC ($198.9M) and GBTC ($17.5M) see inflows.
U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene makes seven IBIT purchases in 2025 totaling $21,000-$140,000, with the most recent transaction of $1,000-$15,000 occurring on November 21.
Experienced longest weekly outflow streak since January 2024, with $2.7 billion pulled and $6.2 billion cumulative outflows from spot Bitcoin ETFs since November 2024, with IBIT as largest holder and supply source. Recorded four consecutive weeks of net withdrawals through February 13, 2026, with $360 million flowing out that week.
Records net outflow of $74.03 million on December 1, 2025, with total Bitcoin ETF market remaining flat at +$0.37 million as Fidelity ($67.02M inflow) and ARK ($7.38M inflow) offset the IBIT outflow.
BlackRock officially confirms IBIT now represents its single largest revenue source among all products managed by the world's largest asset manager with $13.4 trillion in AUM.
Nasdaq ISE requests SEC approval to raise options position and exercise limits from 250,000 to 1 million contracts, a 300% increase.
JPMorgan Chase files with SEC for a leveraged structured note that provides Bitcoin exposure through IBIT, offering uncapped returns based on BTC price movements by late 2026 and 2028.
U.S. Representative Brandon Gill purchases up to $50,000 of IBIT ETF.
Records net outflow of $131.4 million on November 7, 2025, reversing the previous day's $93.28 million inflow.
JPMorgan's filings reveal 64% increase in IBIT exposure, showing major institutional accumulation by the bank.
Records net inflow of $93.28 million on November 6, 2025, reversing the previous day's $374.44 million outflow.
IBIT trades at its lowest levels since September 2024, with a -57% loss relative to Bitcoin over the past year.
Records net outflow of 3,609 Bitcoin ($374.44 million) on November 5, 2025, with trading volume of $3 billion.
IBIT records zero net flow on November 4, 2025, while total Bitcoin ETF market experiences $566.40 million in net outflows.
Records net outflow of 1,748 Bitcoin ($187.84 million) on November 3, 2025, with trading volume of $3.1 billion and total holdings falling to 799,701 Bitcoin.
IBIT registers $406 million in net inflows for Week 43, reversing the outflow trend documented in late October.
IBIT netted nearly $1 billion in options flow since August 2025.
IBIT records $3,931.2 million in monthly net inflows, representing the largest contribution among all Bitcoin ETFs with total monthly net flow of $3,424.9 million.
IBIT records $149.32 million in net outflows on October 31, 2025, as part of $191.59 million total outflows across all Bitcoin ETFs.
IBIT records $292.87 million in net outflows on October 30, 2025, part of $490.43 million total outflows across all Bitcoin ETFs.
IBIT records $88.1 million in net outflows on October 29, 2025, part of $470.7 million total outflows across all Bitcoin ETFs.
IBIT records $59.6 million in net inflows on October 28, 2025, as part of a total $202.4 million net flow across all Bitcoin ETFs that day.
IBIT accounts for $28.1 billion of $26.9 billion total BTC ETF flows year-to-date, with all other BTC ETFs showing negative flows when IBIT is excluded.
IBIT is positioned above all three key exponential moving averages (21, 55, and 200-day).
IBIT records $324 million in net inflows for the week of October 20-24, leading all spot Bitcoin ETFs during the period with the total market seeing $446 million in inflows.
BlackRock's IBIT begins trading in the UK as a Bitcoin ETP.
An inverse Head and Shoulders pattern forms on the COIN/IBIT ratio chart.
IBIT records net inflows of $107.36 million on October 23rd, representing the majority of total Bitcoin ETF net inflows of $19.90 million.
A Head and Shoulders pattern forms on the IBIT/SPY ratio chart, representing a bearish technical setup.
IBIT records net inflows of $73.61 million on October 22nd, the largest among Bitcoin ETFs despite total market outflows of $101.39 million.
IBIT records net inflows of $210.9 million on October 21st, part of $477.2 million total Bitcoin ETF inflows.
In April 2025, Anchorage Digital Bank becomes second custodian for IBIT alongside Coinbase Custody Trust, enhancing operational redundancy and risk management.
Bitcoin whales complete $3 billion in custom creations, trading physical Bitcoin for IBIT shares through portfolio trades facilitated by BlackRock.
Options flow detected for January 16th expiration at $70 strike price.
$2 billion projected to flow into BlackRock's UK Bitcoin ETF, creating a pathway for UK traders to recycle funds into IBIT.
IBIT records net outflows between $100-118 million on October 20th, continuing daily redemption activity.
BlackRock's IBIT loses $268.6 million in weekly outflows amid institutional selling pressure across Bitcoin ETFs.
BlackRock CEO confirms IBIT has surpassed $100 billion in assets.
IBIT records $60.4M in inflows (reported from Friday) while overall Bitcoin ETFs experience $326.4M in net outflows on Monday.
Recent 4-day ETF purchases total 10,924 BTC, marking significant increase in accumulation rate.
Major institutional purchase of 2,681 BTC worth $280.75M by BlackRock.
$IBIT ranks as 8th largest fund among BlackRock's 1,132 total funds after 16 months of launch.
Bitcoin ETF experiences first outflow after reaching nearly $70 billion in inflows.
Bitcoin ETF $IBIT achieves 2X the inflows compared to Gold ETF $GLD in 2025.
Wisconsin Investment Board liquidates entire $321M position in Bitcoin ETF.