Blackstone, which bills itself as the \u201cthe world\u2019s largest alternative asset manager,\u201d disclosed its first-ever crypto-related purchase, buying shares in BlackRock\u2019s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund.<\/p>\n
However, Blackstone\u2019s investment, reported in a May 20 filing<\/a> with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, only totaled around $1.08 million \u2014 a fraction of the asset manager\u2019s $1.2 trillion portfolio.<\/p>\n Blackstone reported holding 23,094 shares of BlackRock\u2019s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) as of March 31.<\/p>\n The IBIT shares were added to Blackstone\u2019s Alternative Multi-Strategy Fund (BTMIX), which holds $2.63 billion worth of assets, Google Finance data<\/a> shows.<\/p>\n The filing shows Blackstone also bought 4,300 shares in crypto ATM operator Bitcoin Depot Inc. (BTM) for a total cost of $6,300 and spent $181,166 scooping up 9,889 shares of the ProShares Bitcoin ETF (BITO).<\/p>\n Despite its claim as an \u201calternative asset manager,\u201d Blackstone has largely stayed away from crypto. In September 2019, Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman said he liked the concept of blockchain<\/a> but thought its use for money was \u201cpretty odd.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c[I was] raised in a world where someone needs to control currencies,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n He admitted he didn\u2019t have much interest in crypto, citing difficulties understanding the technology.<\/p>\n Related: <\/strong><\/em>Bitcoin is signaling a golden cross \u2014 What does it mean for BTC price?<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Blackstone invests in everything from private equity, real estate and credit to infrastructure, hedge funds and insurance solutions.<\/p>\n According<\/a> to Blackstone\u2019s website, it had $37 billion worth of investable capital as of March 31.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the state of Wisconsin Investment Board \u2014 one of the first state investment funds to provide Bitcoin exposure to US retirees<\/a> \u2014 reported on May 15 that it liquidated all 6,060,351 of its IBIT shares<\/a> worth $3.7 billion during the first quarter.<\/p>\n BlackRock\u2019s Bitcoin fund has not recorded an outflow in six weeks, since April 9, Farside Investors data<\/a> shows.<\/p>\n It has seen a 20-trading-day streak of inflows<\/a> during that time, bringing its total net inflows to over $46.1 billion since it launched in January 2024.<\/p>\n The Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) and the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARK) trail IBIT in all-time net inflows at $11.8 billion and $2.8 billion, respectively.<\/p>\n Flow data of the 11 US-based spot Bitcoin ETFs since May 2. Source:<\/em> Farside Investors<\/em><\/a><\/p>\nFlows keep coming in for BlackRock\u2019s IBIT<\/h2>\n