BlackRock adds bitcoin ETF to portfolio marketed to financial advisors: report

BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, is adding its spot bitcoin ETF to some of the portfolios it markets to financial advisors, according to Bloomberg.

The tradfi giant will include a "1% to 2% allocation to the $48 billion iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF ... in its target allocation portfolios that allow for alternatives," Bloomberg reported on Friday.

The move could potentially generate added demand for IBIT, the largest spot bitcoin ETF by assets under management. With crypto prices retreating in recent days, demand for IBIT slid this week when the fund saw a record $418.1 million worth of net outflows on Wednesday.

BlackRock's spot bitcoin ETF remains the market leader with over $48 billion in assets under management, according to The Block Data Dashboard. Fidelity's second-place product has roughly $23 billion of AUM.

The recent increase of investors selling their holdings in spot bitcoin ETFs has coincided with BTC's steep decline. Bitcoin is currently on track to close February with a 21% drop, marking its second-worst February in history. Standard Chartered’s Geoffrey Kendrick told The Block he expects bitcoin to drop into the $69,000 to $76,500 range over the weekend or by Monday.

Massive flows, potentially

Although BlackRock's spot bitcoin ETF has already been wildly successful , adding IBIT to certain portfolios marketed to investment advisors may eventually boost demand for the fund and help bolster Bitcoin's price.

"Model portfolios, which package together funds into ready-made strategies to sell to financial advisers, have boomed in recent years and tweaks to their holdings can result in massive flows in either direction," Bloomberg said.