BlackRock built an empire on traditional finance — but the company's remarkable success in this decade has not come from equities or fixed income. It has come from Bitcoin.
Key Points:
* BlackRock says its Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are now the most profitable product family it manages worldwide.
* The IBIT fund achieved historic growth — controlling over 3% of the Bitcoin (BTC) supply and generating record annual fee revenue.
* Institutional distribution, not the noise among retail investors, is the main force behind the increase in demand for exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Cristiano Castro, who oversees business development at BlackRock in Brazil, revealed at a blockchain event in São Paulo that the company's Bitcoin exchange-traded funds are now the most profitable product family BlackRock offers anywhere in the world. This information immediately drew attention, especially as it comes from an asset manager with over $13.4 trillion in assets under management and more than 1,400 exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
📈 An internal forecast was completely wrong — in a good way
The magnitude of the shift was not obvious when the first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund launched in the US in January 2024. Internally, BlackRock anticipated strong demand — but not what actually happened. A year later, demand for exposure to Bitcoin through IBIT and its international counterparts surged to the point that allocations are nearing $100 billion. Castro simply described it as "far exceeding what we had in our internal models."
The American fund, IBIT, surpassed the $70 billion mark faster than any fund in the history of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), now controlling over 3% of the total Bitcoin supply. Fee generation has doubled in parallel, making IBIT the most profitable exchange-traded fund launch in the company's history.
🏦 Institutions have done the bulk of the effort
One of the main reasons behind IBIT's dominance is the nature of the capital flowing into it. Once the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, pension funds, wealth managers, and companies that had previously avoided self-custody had a low-friction way to buy Bitcoin (BTC). Instead of targeting retail investors interested in cryptocurrencies, BlackRock relied on distribution channels it already possessed — and institutions responded to that.
The momentum has also spread internationally. IBIT39 in Brazil and other Bitcoin-related products built under the BlackRock umbrella contributed to the increase in assets.
📉 Temporary outflows do not change the bigger picture
Recent withdrawals from exchange-traded funds have led to speculation about demand stopping, but Castro rejected this explanation. He described exchange-traded funds as "liquidity machines" designed to absorb selling pressure during times of volatility. He said that retail investors tend to rotate their capital faster than long-term institutions, and that is exactly what is happening now.
BlackRock's internal view is that Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have already established themselves as a long-term line of business — not just a passing fad.
The idea that Bitcoin would become the strongest profit driver for the largest asset manager in the world would have seemed ridiculous just a few years ago. Now it has become a line item on BlackRock's balance sheet. This shift indicates that Bitcoin is not only being adopted by Wall Street — it has become part of its core business model.
