Welcome to the US Crypto News Morning Briefing—your essential rundown of the most important developments in crypto for the day ahead.
Grab a coffee because something quietly massive is happening in the background. BlackRock is closing in on a milestone that could rewrite Bitcoin (BTC) ownership history. With steady accumulation through its ETF (exchange-traded funds), the asset management titan is approaching Satoshi Nakamoto’s legendary wallet as the single largest holder of Bitcoin on the planet.
Crypto News of the Day: BlackRock is 62% Away from Surpassing Satoshi’s Bitcoin Stash
BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, IBIT, has reached a new milestone, accumulating 700,000 BTC.
Lauding this momentum, ETF analyst Eric Balchunas indicates that this puts the world’s largest asset manager within striking distance of overtaking Satoshi Nakamoto as the largest single holder of Bitcoin.
“BlackRock holds 700,000 BTC now, and is 62% of the way there to passing Satoshi as world’s largest single holder of bitcoin,” wrote Balchunas.
Satoshi’s estimated holdings stand at roughly 1.1 million BTC, untouched since Bitcoin’s inception. At its current clip, gobbling up 40,000 BTC per month, or about 1,300 BTC daily, IBIT is now 62% there.
If the pace holds, IBIT is on track to surpass Satoshi by May 2026, just two years after its launch. That fast growth makes IBIT the youngest member among the top 25 largest ETFs globally by assets under management, at only 1.4 years old.
BlackRock’s IBIT is the fastest-growing ETF in history. Source: Bitcoin Magazine, which cited Bloomberg
Recently, Balchunas highlighted IBIT as BlackRock’s third-highest revenue-generating ETF out of 1,197 funds, and it is only $9 billion away from being the first.
BeInCrypto reported that IBIT had already become BlackRock’s most profitable ETF by fee revenues, overtaking its $624 billion S&P 500 fund (IVV).
With Bitcoin trading over $108,000, institutional appetite remains high, and BlackRock is leading the charge.
Bitcoin (BTC) Price Performance. Source: BeInCrypto
While ETF providers have already collectively surpassed Satoshi’s stash, IBIT may soon hold that title individually. Such a milestone would add to the growing dominance of BlackRock in the crypto investment arena.
However, while BlackRock’s rise marks a maturing market, others see it as a centralized threat, contradicting Bitcoin’s original decentralized ethos.
In the same tone, others also see rising institutional dominance as a detractor for Bitcoin volatility, with annualized realized volatility decreasing since 2018.
“I still wish Bitcoin never got an ETF. It moves slower than most stocks and has lost it’s appeal to trade. We replaced exciting volatility with boring stability, just what the suits and institutions wanted,” analyst IncomeSharks said recently.
Notwithstanding, Bitcoin’s largest holders are no longer pseudonymous coders but Wall Street giants.
In a related development, reported in a recent US Crypto News publication, Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan predicted an explosive second half (H2) of the year for Ethereum ETFs.
The Bitwise executive forecasted up to $10 billion in inflows into Ethereum ETFs in H2 2025.
Chart of the Day
Top Bitcoin Holders in the World. Source: Eric Balchunas on X Byte-Sized Alpha
Here’s a summary of more US crypto news to follow today:
