BlackRock's IBIT Draws Record $3.6 Billion in Bitcoin (BTC) Custody Swaps

Demand to exchange directly held Bitcoin (BTC) for shares of BlackRock's spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund, IBIT, has reached its highest level on record. According to Robbie Mitchnick, BlackRock's head of digital assets, cumulative conversions since July 2025 are estimated at approximately $3.6 billion. The estimate was published on November 9.

Record-Level Conversions Into IBIT

The conversions captured in the estimate involve holders moving bitcoin they own directly into the ETF structure, effectively swapping direct coin holdings for shares of the fund. Mitchnick's published figure places the cumulative value of these custody swaps at roughly $3.6 billion since July 2025, the highest level recorded for IBIT to date.

Delivering bitcoin into a fund in exchange for newly created shares is recognized in ETF markets as an in-kind creation, and because the coins move into the fund's custodial structure, each conversion adds directly held bitcoin to the assets the fund holds on behalf of shareholders. Flows for U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs are tracked daily by market data providers, making activity of this kind observable over time, while the cumulative estimate itself covers conversions through its November 9 publication and would be updated only through further disclosures from BlackRock.

Background: IBIT and the U.S. Spot Bitcoin ETF Market

IBIT, the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, launched in January 2024 as one of the first spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds approved for listing in the United States, part of the initial wave of U.S. approvals for funds that hold bitcoin directly. The fund holds bitcoin on behalf of shareholders through a custodial arrangement, allowing investors to obtain exposure to the asset through a standard brokerage account without directly managing private keys. Since its debut, IBIT has grown into the largest spot bitcoin ETF by assets under management.

Converting directly held bitcoin into ETF shares is one of the established channels through which investors transition between direct coin ownership and fund-based exposure to Bitcoin. Figures of this kind are notable for the spot bitcoin ETF market because they tally existing coins moving into the fund structure, providing a measure of demand from holders who already own the asset alongside the cash-based purchases reflected in daily flow data. Whether conversion activity continues at the pace recorded since July 2025 can be followed through the fund's reported flows and any updated disclosures from BlackRock.

This content was first published on COINOTAG.