BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has launched a Bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETP) in Europe, expanding its crypto investment offerings beyond the U.S. market.
The move comes on the heels of the firm’s highly successful U.S.-listed iShares Bitcoin Trust, which has grown to $48 billion since its record-breaking debut in January 2024.
Manuela Sperandeo, head of iShares Product for Europe and the Middle East, described the launch as a “tipping point” for the industry, highlighting the growing interest from both retail and institutional investors in digital assets.
BlackRock will offer an introductory fee waiver of 10 basis points, reducing the product’s total expense ratio to 0.15% through the end of the year.
Still, BlackRock’s IB1T enters the space competitively. After the fee waiver ends, its expense ratio will match that of CoinShares International’s leading $1.3 billion physical Bitcoin ETP at 0.25%.
While Europe has hosted crypto ETPs for several years, the market remains significantly smaller than the U.S., with a total size of about $13.6 billion.
The shift marks a change in investor sentiment, with inflows recorded on each day of the week following 17 consecutive days of outflows.
Digital asset investment products saw a strong turnaround last week, recording $644 million in inflows and ending a five-week streak of outflows.
The United States accounted for the bulk of the inflows, contributing $632 million. However, the renewed optimism was not limited to the U.S., with Switzerland, Germany, and Hong Kong also seeing inflows of $15.9 million, $13.9 million, and $1.2 million, respectively. Bitcoin was the clear leader in the recovery, drawing in $724 million after five weeks of outflows totaling $5.4 billion. BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) led the way with $538 million in weekly net inflows, marking its sixth consecutive day of positive flows.
As a result, total assets under management have increased by 6.3% from their recent low on March 10.