With just ten months of existence, BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), has already reached the mark of US$40 billion in assets under management (AUM). Thus, it became larger than the manager’s gold ETF, the iShares Gold Trust (IAU).
The turning point happened on November 8th. Since then, the Bitcoin ETF has continued with strong fundraising and reached US$43.03 billion under management. last Tuesday (19) under management, more than US$ 10 billion above the gold ETF, with US$ 32.67 billion of AUM.
Under the effect of the wave of optimism that took over the stock market, cryptocurrencies following the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States, IBIT recorded a large inflow of resources throughout November. It was during this period that Bitcoin (BTC) reached its all-time high of more than US$93,000.00.
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It is common in the market for Bitcoin to be compared to gold – so much so that it is called “digital gold” by many. This has to do, mainly, with the idea of scarcity that exists behind the two assets: while gold would have a finite quantity to be extracted in the world, Bitcoin has a limit of 21 million units that will be issued.
This thesis has been defended by Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock. He stated in an interview with the American channel CNBC in July this year that he had a “wrong opinion” about Bitcoin. And he recognizes that cryptocurrency is a “legitimate financial instrument” and would be like “digital gold”.
Still in 2023, Fink had already said that Bitcoin has the role of “digitizing gold”, being an investment alternative to protect against inflation and currency devaluation.
Bitcoin among the most valuable assets in the world
The recent rally has seen Bitcoin rise to the top ten most valuable assets in the world, above another metal: silver, according to the CompaniesMarketCap website.
As of Tuesday, Bitcoin had a market value of US$1.85 trillion, ranking seventh, while silver had a market capitalization of US$1.76 trillion, in ninth place, both ahead of Meta, a company owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, when compared to the largest companies in the world.
Bitcoin’s current capitalization puts it on par with Saudi Aramco, the largest oil company in the world, which is now in eighth place among the most valuable assets. The company is currently worth US$1.80 trillion.
They lead the ranking of the most valuable assets in the world gold ($17.69 trillion), Nvidia ($3.64 trillion), Apple ($3.46 trillion), Microsoft ($3.09 trillion) and Amazon ($2.15 trillion).
