BlackRock, a major asset management firm, disclosed in SEC filings on May 28 that it added $4.1 million worth of shares from its spot Bitcoin ETF to two of its funds.

The asset manager allocated $3.6 million of its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) shares to the BlackRock Strategic Income Opportunities Portfolio (BSIIX). Additionally, it included $486,000 worth of IBIT shares in its BlackRock Strategic Global Bond Fund (MAWIX).

These purchases were made in the first quarter of 2024, following BlackRock's earlier intention to include IBIT in its various funds as stated in SEC filings on March 8. The company had previously reported owning $6.6 million of IBIT shares in its 13F filing on May 10.

BlackRock's involvement in IBIT places it among the many institutional investors that acquired shares of the spot Bitcoin ETF in the first quarter. According to Fintel data as of May 28, at least 422 firms have disclosed holdings in IBIT.

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas commented on the significant investor interest in spot Bitcoin ETFs, highlighting IBIT's prominence with approximately 50% of the 929 firms reporting investments in the first quarter.

Millennium Management and Schonfeld Strategic Advisors hold the largest positions in IBIT, with $844.2 million and $248.0 million, respectively. Several globally systemically important banks (G-SIBs) such as JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, BNY Mellon, BNP Paribas, UBS, and Royal Bank of Canada have also invested in IBIT.

As of May 24, IBIT recorded $16.4 billion in net flows, leading all spot Bitcoin ETFs and nearly doubling the second highest, Fidelity's FBTC. IBIT's assets under management (AUM) totaled $17.2 billion as of May 28, representing 31% of combined AUM for all spot Bitcoin ETFs.