Blackrock, the world's largest asset manager, filed an amendment to its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday, April 4, 2024, adding five new authorized participants (APs). According to the filing, ABN AMRO Clearing USA, Citadel Securities, Citigroup Global Markets, Goldman Sachs, and UBS Securities have been added to the list, bringing the total number of APs for IBIT from the initial four to nine.
Expanding the Authorized Participant Roster
Authorized participants are critical for the creation and redemption of ETF shares — a block of 40,000 shares is called a “basket.” In the original prospectus filed on January 9, the day before the SEC approved 11 spot bitcoin ETFs, Blackrock named only Jane Street Capital, JP Morgan Securities, Macquarie Capital (USA), and Virtu Americas as APs. The March 4 amendment added ABN AMRO, Citi, Goldman, and UBS. Now, Citadel Securities — one of the world’s largest market makers — has joined as the ninth AP. Citadel's inclusion is particularly notable given founder Ken Griffin's previously skeptical stance on cryptocurrencies, signaling a major shift in institutional sentiment.
IBIT Holdings Surge Past 260,000 BTC
Since IBIT launched on January 11, Blackrock has been aggressively accumulating bitcoin. As of Thursday, IBIT's bitcoin holdings reached nearly 260,000 BTC, worth over $18 billion at current prices. Blackrock CEO Larry Fink said last week he is “very bullish on the long-term viability of Bitcoin” and noted that IBIT “is the fastest growing ETF in the history of ETFs.” Robert Mitchnick, head of digital assets at Blackrock, reinforced that for the firm’s clients, “bitcoin is overwhelmingly the number one priority, then a little bit Ethereum, and very little everything else.”
Traditional Finance Deepens Bitcoin ETF Involvement
The expansion of IBIT's authorized participant list reflects how deeply traditional financial institutions are now embracing bitcoin ETFs. Banks like Goldman Sachs, Citi, and UBS — which were once cautious about crypto — are now actively facilitating bitcoin ETF operations. The addition of Citadel Securities underscores the rapid mainstreaming of digital assets. With regulatory clarity improving and institutional demand skyrocketing, spot bitcoin ETFs are becoming a cornerstone of the new financial landscape.