BlackRock IBIT Falls Out of Top 10 US ETFs Amid Consistent Outflows

Key Insights

• BlackRock IBIT drops out of the top ten ETFs by asset under management as ETFs gain $304 billion in year-to-date inflows.
• Bitcoin’s decline 46% from its peak, and outflows from Bitcoin ETFs have contributed to the drop in AUM.
• Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan hit back at criticisms that Bitcoin is not a store of value.

BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), IBIT, has dropped out of the top 10 ETFs following recent outflows. Recent data shared by Bloomberg senior analyst Eric Balchunas revealed this, showing that ETF inflows year-to-date have reached $304 billion.

The surge in inflows is being driven by Vanguard’s VOO, which has already seen inflows of over $30 billion. The product is the leading ETF, with $863.9 billion in AUM.

BlackRock IBIT Outflows Drive Down AUM

IBIT’s drop out of the top ten is unsurprising given Bitcoin’s struggles in 2026. The flagship crypto asset has lost 27% year-to-date and is trading around $64,000.

Since crashing below $70,000 and losing over 40% of its peak value, Bitcoin has struggled to regain that level. This has led to substantial outflows from Bitcoin ETFs, totaling around $4.5 billion this year.

Most of these outflows have come from IBIT, which has lost over $2.13 billion in the past five weeks. While Balchunas did not share IBIT AUM, data from The Block shows that IBIT currently has around $55 billion in AUM, while Lookonchain lists its BTC holdings at 755,316 BTC.

Despite the massive outflows for IBIT over the past few months, the product remains very strong in the long term. According to Balchunas, IBIT still ranks fifth overall in flows since its January 2024 launch, with only the Vanguard ETFs outpacing it.

Interestingly, Bitcoin ETFs combined still have a positive net flow of $55 billion since launch. This is a sign that several investors are still holding despite the sharp decline and highly publicized outflows.

Crypto Expert Hits Back at Bitcoin Criticism

Meanwhile, sizable outflows from Bitcoin ETFs, coupled with Bitcoin’s struggles, have drawn criticism from many. For them, the recent price collapse is evidence that Bitcoin is a speculative asset and cannot serve as digital gold and be an inflation hedge.

However, crypto experts have hit back at that criticism. Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan stated that Bitcoin is an emerging store of value, which explains its current volatility.

According to him, Bitcoin started in 2009 as pure speculation and is currently maturing, but has yet to reach the level of gold.

He said:

“Bitcoin is an emerging store of value.  You cannot ask it to emerge from nothing as mature as gold. Imagine it in 2009 as a newborn.  It is 100% speculation. Now imagine it in 2050 or whenever, when every central bank owns it, and it’s as normal as gold. It’s 0% speculation.”

The crypto expert also referenced his old Forbes article, noting that Gold experienced a similar volatility trend in the 1970s, when the US left the gold standard.

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