Fidelity and Ark Rake in $343M as Bitcoin ETF Demand Goes Parabolic
Wall Street’s latest gold rush? Bitcoin ETFs—and the big players are cashing in. Fidelity and Ark Invest just vacuumed up $343 million in fresh inflows as institutional money stampedes into crypto.
The surge comes amid whispers of ’FOMO’ from traditional finance dinosaurs—late to the party as usual. Meanwhile, Bitcoin ETFs quietly eat their lunch, proving once again that slow-moving capital allocators would rather chase than lead.
One thing’s clear: When the suits finally show up, the smart money’s already halfway to the moon.
BlackRock’s IBIT dominates flows
As usual, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT)—which is bigger than Wall Street’s other 11 BTC ETFs combined—took the lion’s share of inflows, pulling in $305.9 million of investment yesterday. That takes IBIT’s total net assets to $66.9 billion, equivalent to about 3.2% of Bitcoin’s market capitalization.
Beyond BTC’s bullish momentum, hedge funds are seeking to capitalize on the difference between Bitcoin’s spot price and long-dated futures, with yields from the basis trade proving attractive.
IBIT’s inflows so far this year stand at $8.3 billion, making it the sixth-most popular fund on Wall Street, according to Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas. That’s streets ahead of the SDPR Gold Trust in 17th place, despite the precious metal outperforming Bitcoin since the start of the year.
Also notable leaderboard action: $IBIT has climbed up to 6th spot and is now nearly DOUBLE the inflow into $GLD which has slid to 17th, despite gold doubling bitcoin’s performance YTD altho that prob won’t last. pic.twitter.com/HYTfC2SZZP
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) May 19, 2025
While gold prices have accelerated by more than 22% so far in 2025—fueled by uncertainty over U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs—BTC’s gains currently stand at a more modest 12%.
One notable absence from the Bitcoin ETF space has been Vanguard, which has long regarded crypto as "more of a speculation than an investment" that doesn’t belong in investor portfolios.
Balchunas believes the asset management giant is unlikely to perform a U-turn and launch a fund of its own—but he suggested that Vanguard may allow existing ETFs to be traded on its platform if Bitcoin continues to rise.
Should Bitcoin’s price hit the $150,000-$200,000 price range, he wrote, "they gonna get sick of being asked about it by customers and their new CEO is one of IBIT’s parents."
