IBIT and GLD Duke It Out for Top Commodity ETF by AUM
The gap in assets between IBIT and GLD has widened in recent weeks as the bitcoin ETF eyes toppling the gold ETF.
The record-setting run in prices for bitcoin and spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds has slowed over the past two months, amid macroeconomic uncertainties that have affected a range of assets.
After topping out around $108,000 in mid-December, bitcoin has fluctuated in a relatively narrow range between its peak level on the high end and $90,000 on the low end.
Likewise, after topping out at around $60 billion in December, assets under management in the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has flatlined nearer to $55 billion.
The lack of growth in IBIT’s assets is a rare pause for an ETF that skyrocketed after debuting last January, becoming the fastest ETF ever to reach $10 billion, $25 billion, and $50 billion in AUM. IBIT's dramatic gains reflected investors' voracious appetite for cryptocurrency-focused assets, particularly those involving bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value.
GLD in IBIT's Crosshairs
The next milestone the fund had its eye on was toppling the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) as the largest commodity ETF (bitcoin is a commodity along with a cryptocurrency).
But with gold continuing to set record high after record high, the AUM gap between the two ETFs has widened in recent weeks.
GLD currently has more than $81 billion in assets, $24 billion more than the $57 billion in IBIT.
To be sure, that gap is easily surmountable should IBIT's return to its torrid pace of inflows and/or the price of bitcoin starts to take off again as many observers suspect, given the Trump administration's support for the digital asset industry.
Since the start of the year, IBIT has gathered $3.6 billion in inflows versus an outflow of $74 million for GLD. But GLD’s 10.4% return so far this year has handily outpaced IBIT’s 2% return.
Still, things can change fast, especially given bitcoin's volatility. As recently as Jan. 21, bitcoin sported a 14% year-to-date gain.
If the price of bitcoin rebounds, IBIT’s assets will almost certainly jump along with it. There is plenty of time left in the year for the ETF to potentially steal the commodity ETF crown from GLD.
