U.S. spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs have raked in nearly $2.8 billion in net inflows over the past five trading days, helping to lift Bitcoin’s price from around $85,000 to $94,000. Leading the pack was the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which alone drew $1.3 billion.
At the Bitcoin Standard Corporation’s Investor Day, MicroStrategy (MSTR) Chairman Michael Saylor declared that “IBIT will be the biggest ETF in the world within a decade.”
IBIT currently holds a market capitalization of $54 billion and saw trading volumes exceed $1.5 billion on Thursday. By contrast, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) — the current global leader — boasts a market cap of $593.5 billion, putting it far ahead of IBIT for now.
Bloomberg’s Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas agreed that IBIT could eventually top VOO but cautioned that it would require extraordinary market dynamics.
“It’s possible, especially if IBIT consistently absorbs more inflows than VOO,” Balchunas said. “But realistically, that would mean pulling in $3 to $4 billion per day — far above the $1 billion range — to catch up. It’s a long shot, but it’s on the table.”
At the same time, returns from Bitcoin ETF basis trades — where investors buy ETFs and short CME Bitcoin futures — have surged to nearly 10% annualized, doubling from early April levels. A 2,000 BTC rise in futures open interest over the past week points to basis trades accounting for a portion of the recent ETF inflows, rather than pure directional buying.
