BlackRock may transfer $200 million in trust assets to IBTC, Bitcoin surges above $44K

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas believes that asset giant BlackRock is transferring trust assets to its proposed Bitcoin spot ETF IBTC in order to quickly gain a competitive advantage after the ETF is issued. Bitcoin hit a recent high again, reaching 44,488 last night, with a 5.1% increase in the past 24 hours.

Performance of the Top Ten Cryptocurrencies Recently

Bitcoin hit a new recent high, reaching 44,488 last night with a 5.1% increase in the past 24 hours, while Ethereum also rose by 2.3%. Among the top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, AVAX led with an 8.1% increase, pushing TON to the ninth position.

According to Binance's monthly report, Avalanche AVAX's growth is attributed to the decentralized finance protocol Benqi, which saw a 16% increase in its total value locked (TVL) in November.

In addition, Elon Musk's x.AI began fundraising, and the upcoming launch of the physical Dogecoin to the moon has strengthened Doge's recent performance.

Elon Musk sparks another AI battle, startup X.AI plans to raise $1 billion

Dogecoin truly going "To the Moon," physical Dogecoin to ride a rocket to the moon

BlackRock Actively Preparing for IBTC

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas stated yesterday:

I heard BlackRock may be moving trust assets (I think around $200 million) to IBTC. This isn't a new demand in itself, but could be helpful for them in the early stages of competition. But what I think is more interesting is when BlackRock will put IBTC into their model portfolios.

yeah I heard rumblings that BlackRock may move the trust assets (I think around $200m) into $IBTC, which wouldn't be new demand per se but may help them in early days of race. Bigger thing to watch tho IMO is if/when Blk decides to put $IBTC in their model portfolios.

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) December 5, 2023

Another analyst, James Seyffart, also agrees. He believes BlackRock is exploring mechanisms to convert/move these private trust assets to ETFs. The $200 million is just the best guess of the scale of these private trust assets under management. If the ETF is approved, theoretically, many would be willing to transfer their BTC from the original private trust to the ETF.

According to a previous report by CoinDesk, this private trust was established in August 2022 and is a spot Bitcoin BTC private trust launched by BlackRock for U.S. institutional investors.