- BlackRock‘s spot Bitcoin ETF has attracted a significant number of first-time ETF investors.
- Many of these new investors are subsequently exploring other traditional financial products from BlackRock.
- The trend is part of a larger “Great Convergence” between traditional finance and digital assets.
- Crypto exchanges are seeing a surge in pre-IPO perpetual futures trading volumes, according to CryptoQuant.
A significant majority of investors in BlackRock‘s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) are engaging with exchange-traded funds for the very first time, according to the firm’s US head of equity ETFs. Jay Jacobs revealed on the Chain Reaction podcast Thursday that approximately 75% of IBIT investors were previously ETF novices, telling Cointelegraph the product serves as an entry point into traditional finance. This highlights a two-way flow, where Bitcoin ETFs were designed to attract traditional investors but are also pulling crypto-native users toward TradFi products.
Consequently, Jacobs noted that many investors who start with the $48 billion Bitcoin fund then diversify into other BlackRock offerings like the S&P 500 or Gold ETFs. He framed this as engaging with a new demographic for the asset management giant. This interaction coincides with what BlackRock terms the “Great Convergence” of traditional and decentralized finance.
Meanwhile, the overlap between financial worlds is evident in other products, such as pre-IPO perpetual futures on crypto exchanges. Trading volumes for these instruments have exploded recently, offering exposure to private companies before their public listings. Data from CryptoQuant shows volumes surged from around $1 billion in early May to approximately $22 billion, with Binance becoming the leading venue.
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