BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF Draws Flood of First-Timers—75% Had Never Bought Crypto Before

Wall Street’s crypto gateway drug just got a new batch of converts.

BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF—the slick, SEC-approved wrapper for the anti-establishment asset—pulled in hordes of fresh faces. Three-quarters of its buyers? Total crypto virgins. Guess even your boomer uncle finally caved.

The institutional stampede

No more clandestine Coinbase accounts. The ETF’s veneer of respectability (and those sweet, sweet tax advantages) turned skeptics into bagholders faster than a Solana meme coin rug pull.

Legacy finance’s irony

Banks spent a decade dismissing Bitcoin as a ‘fraud’—now they’re collecting fees on the very thing they mocked. The ultimate ‘if you can’t beat ’em, charge 2% to hold ’em’ play.

One question remains: When these newbies discover self-custody, will BlackRock’s vaults empty faster than a Celsius withdrawal queue?

New Data on BlackRock’s IBIT

IBIT, BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF, was described as the “greatest launch in stock exchange history,” shattering records and earning huge revenues.

However, the firm’s Ethereum-based ETF surpassed IBIT last week, with a surprise upset that raised questions about the market sector. A new piece of data has helped quantify IBIT’s continuing long-term potential:

Amazing stat: 75% of the investors who bought $IBIT ($87b via one million people) were first time customers of BlackRock. And 27% of them went on to buy another iShares ETF. Just a total coup for BLK all around. https://t.co/leUYYgMYCe

These IBIT statistics came from BlackRock’s Investor Day events in June. Although the full report (other than these excerpts) is exclusive to a Bloomberg terminal, a slide deck with some relevant information has been made public.

In short, IBIT has acted as a customer magnet for BlackRock. Over the last few months, bitcoin ETFs have represented the overwhelming majority of crypto fund investments. IBIT is the clear standout in this market sector, and more than a quarter of retail IBIT buyers move on to invest in the firm’s other ETF products.

This trend could help power long-term longevity for BlackRock’s ETF portfolio. Ethereum ETFs have surged throughout July while BTC inflows diminished, and corporate investors are heavily diversifying their portfolios to include other altcoins.

This phenomenon struck particularly close to home for BlackRock, as a key IBIT pioneer left the firm to take a position at an ETH-focused treasury company. Sure, IBIT generates huge fee revenues, but products need to constantly innovate to stay relevant.

However, it seems like this “customer magnet” angle can provide a great degree of long-term relevance.