BlackRock Sees $3.6 Billion in Bitcoin-to-IBIT Conversions

BlackRock head of digital assets Robbie Mitchnick told Barron’s on November 9 that demand for in-kind conversions had reached “the highest we’ve seen at any point.” He said wealthy individuals and institutional holders increasingly prefer regulated investment products to managing large Bitcoin balances and private keys themselves. BlackRock’s reported total may be higher because the firm does not track every transaction handled by intermediaries.

In-kind conversions let eligible investors transfer Bitcoin into an ETF structure and receive shares. Authorized participants and other approved intermediaries arrange the transactions. BlackRock works with firms including Galaxy Digital, Talos and Virtu; minimums vary by intermediary and have fallen from about $30 million to roughly $1 million to $2 million.

That demand has coincided with withdrawals from the funds. Farside Investors data show IBIT had $213.2 million in net outflows on November 9, its seventh consecutive session of withdrawals. Since October 30, the fund had lost about $1.66 billion. US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $201 million in net outflows that Monday, while Morgan Stanley’s MSBT took in $22.1 million. In the previous session, $411.9 million left the funds, including $403 million from IBIT.

The two figures describe different activity: conversions change how an existing holder owns Bitcoin, while ETF net flows measure creations against redemptions. The SEC approved in-kind creations and redemptions for crypto exchange-traded products on July 29, 2025. Grayscale announced in October that it would accept in-kind contributions across ten digital asset products, including those linked to Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and XRP.