Bitcoin’s (BTC) growing appeal among asset managers and traditional financial institutions (TradFi) has received a lot of attention recently, particularly due to the notable success of Bitcoin ETF products offered by industry leaders such as BlackRock, Grayscale, and Fidelity.
This success has prompted more Wall Street banking institutions to eagerly enter the newly approved ETF market as authorized participants (APs).
Major institutions join BlackRock
According to recent disclosures, BlackRock has expanded the list of authorized participants for its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) ETF to five new participants, including Goldman Sachs, Citadel, Citigroup, UBS and clearing bank ABN AMRO, bringing the total number of authorized participants to nine. The move comes as the fund has attracted a large number of investments from individuals and institutions.
With the participation of these well-known financial institutions, BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF market participation and recognition have been further enhanced, indicating that the traditional financial sector's interest in and acceptance of cryptocurrency-related financial products continues to grow.
Notably, Jane Street Capital, JPMorgan, Macquarie and Virtu Americas are already on the list of authorized participants.
According to BlackRock’s filing, authorized participants will create and redeem ETF shares exclusively through cash transactions and they will not directly or indirectly handle Bitcoin as part of the creation or redemption process.
Authorized participants play a key role in the ETF ecosystem. They have signed an agreement with the ETF issuer that gives them the right to create and redeem ETF shares based on market demand. These participants can act on their own behalf or on behalf of other market participants and do not receive compensation from the ETF issuer.
By dynamically adjusting the number of shares of an ETF in issue, APs aim to increase efficiency and reduce costs for ETF investors.
Wall Street giants embrace Bitcoin ETF market
BlackRock's addition of prominent Wall Street institutions such as Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, UBS and Citadel as authorized participants highlights the growing interest and acceptance of bitcoin-related financial products.
Bloomberg ETF expert Eric Balchunas said these banking giants either have new interest in the area or are now willing to openly cooperate with it. Balchunas noted that their involvement had not previously been explicitly mentioned in ETF filings. However, the significant growth and success of these ETFs likely influenced their decision to participate publicly.
Regarding market liquidity, the ten spot ETFs recently approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have shown stable investor interest. On April 4, these ETFs received significant net inflows of $213 million, marking the third consecutive day of positive flows.
However, Grayscale's GBTC experienced a large net outflow of $79.3 million in one day, and GBTC's historical net inflow has reached $15.31 billion.
On the other hand, BlackRock’s IBIT ETF emerged as the best performing ETF, witnessing significant net inflows of approximately $144 million on the same day. This brings IBIT’s total historical net inflows to $14.4 billion.
Despite the success of the Bitcoin ETF market, BTC price action has moved sideways over the past 24 hours, with prices down 2% over the past seven days to trade around $67,000. #贝莱德 #比特币ETF
