Bitcoin: ETFs like BlackRock attract BTC whales from outright holdings

Whale migration. Despite some recent minor downsides following the prevalence of fear in the crypto sector since the Oct. 10 flash crash, Spot Bitcoin ETFs managed to attract more than $61 billion in net inflows from their launch in January 2024. This phenomenon migration BTC whales from blockchain to the funds of Wall Street giants headed by BlackRocka recent Bloomberg article pointed out. Explanations.

Very wealthy Bitcoin owners now prefer BlackRock ETFs to their own holdings

THE” whales » (main holders) bitcoin they seem to prefer transfer their crypto-wealth From blockchain to exchange traded funds (ETFs) offered by asset management giants such as BlackRock AND Fidelity.

Especially since these ETFs can offer in-kind exchanges (” in kind “)after the green light from DRY (Securities and Exchange Commission) last July. It is thus possible to create and buy back shares in these funds directly into valuable cryptocurrencywithout going through the fiat currency phase (here the US dollar).

According to information published by Bloomberg on October 21, 2025, BlackRock has already processed more than 3 billion dollars of these natural operations since July. Robbie Mitchnickhead of digital assets at BlackRock, points out that whales thus have “ comfort be able to maintain their exposure (for bitcoins) while remaining within their existing relationship with their financial advisor or private bank “.

Direct custody and its risks are discouraging for large portfolios

While Bitcoin was born as a decentralized insurgency against traditional financeit is clear that the king of cryptos integrates into it now more and more. Wealthy investors exchange their bitcoins in management for shares of spot ETFs to maintain their exposure while benefiting from the legitimacy and simplicity that facilitates uses such as securing the loanor for sequence.

RobbieMitchnick thus assumes a increase in volumes for crypto ETFs, especially with increasing regulatory clarity in the United Statesas the arrival of banks such as Morgan Stanley quite recently again. According to the CEO of BlackRock whales to differ however in their approach: some want 20% conversion their BTC to ETF shares when others want a total change (100% in ETFs).

Funds likeiShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) BlackRock is therefore likely to see a rising tide from rich BTC holders. So, Bitcoin, designed by Satoshi Nakamoto to break free from TradFi (traditional finance) could one day find itself largely stored through ETFs and other similar financial products. Kind of like whatgoldbecause the precious metal is converted from currency to reserve assetstraded in ETF form rather than coins or bars, which would require more (too?) risky custody for massive holdings by wealthy non-professional portfolios.