BlackRock says more than 90% of Bitcoin ETF investors are long-term investors
BlackRock digital assets chief Robert Mitchnick said that more than 90% of Bitcoin ETF investors, including traders, financial advisors, and institutions, followed a strategy of constant accumulation.
Speaking to CNBC today, Mitchnick said retail investors are “some of the most long-term focused” and tend to “buy the dip” when markets are down, while hedge funds handle a small portion of the tactical trading activity.
“The only part of the demand base where we’re seeing a trend toward short-term performance is the 10 percent or so that’s tied to hedge funds,” Mitchnick said when asked what ETF flows reveal about crypto investor behavior.
He added that these investors used different trading strategies such as fundamental trading, going long in ETFs, and shorting futures contracts. These trades are primarily neutral to the market but can cause temporary inflows or outflows in ETF data.
“But the other 90 percent and the majority of investors,” Mitchnick emphasizes, “tend to be stable and have been on a consistent fundraising path.”
He noted that despite the decrease in the price of Bitcoin, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, IBIT, is ranked among the top-grossing ETFs in the world by 2025, pulling in about $26 billion and ranking fourth in the world by revenue even as the asset posted negative returns.
“Obviously there’s been a lot of pressure to sell elsewhere in the Bitcoin ecosystem, in crypto exchanges, on these offshore leveraged perps platforms,” Mitchnick said. “But the ETF investor base has taken a strong long-term view of things.”
Bitcoin and Ether dominate the demand for crypto ETFs
Commenting on investor demand for crypto assets, Mitchnick reiterated that it remains largely focused on Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Although BlackRock sees interest in other crypto assets, it needs a “more sensible approach” to increase crypto offerings within its iShares ETF program.
“We continue to evaluate those as conditions change and growth, liquidity scale, and use cases evolve,” he said.
Staking is changing the economics of the Ether ETF
This week, a leading asset manager launched ETHB, an Ether ETF powered by participation. The fund generated more than $43 million in net inflows in its first trade, with Farside Investors.
Previously Ethereum ETFs did not take large rewards, leaving investors unable to participate in the network’s harvest.
The new structure addresses that limitation, adding a revenue component that many portfolio providers consider a sound incentive that will help bridge the adoption gap with Bitcoin products.
Despite this pressure, the Ethereum ETF, ETHA, a BlackRock flagship, became the third fastest ETF ever to reach $10 billion in assets under management, trailing only IBIT and FBTC.
Combined with the high yield, the company expects ETHB to be the leading ETF vehicle for Ether exposure.
Mitchnick called the fund an imminent silver bullet for investors looking for light exposure.
