In just under two months, the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) has outpaced MicroStrategy (MSTR) in terms of bitcoin (BTC) holdings. Recent disclosures reveal that IBIT had a staggering 195,985 bitcoins as of last Friday, following a significant influx. In contrast, MicroStrategy’s latest public records from February 26 show a holding of 193,000 tokens.
There’s speculation that MicroStrategy may have increased its holdings since then, especially after the company announced a $700 million capital raise earlier this week, with plans to invest in more bitcoin. Since the introduction of spot ETFs on January 11, IBIT has consistently added hundreds of millions of dollars worth of bitcoin daily, positioning itself as the largest of the new spot products, with the exception of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust.
Next in line for IBIT would be Grayscale’s GBTC, which, despite losing over 200,000 bitcoins since the launch of the spot products, still holds approximately 400,000 tokens. The massive demand for these new spot ETFs is a major driving force behind bitcoin’s impressive price surge of over 60% this year. The cryptocurrency reached a record-breaking high of $70,136 on Friday morning, as per CoinDesk Indices, and was trading just below the $70,000 mark at the time of writing.
