BlackRock's crypto exposure has swelled by nearly $5 billion in the space of a single month, according to onchain data from Arkham Intelligence, as gains in both Bitcoin and Ethereum lifted the asset manager's flagship funds.
IBIT Leads on Price, Not Buying
The firm's total crypto holdings rose from $49.15 billion on July 1 to roughly $53.95 billion by July 28, a 9.77% increase. Most of that came from the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which climbed $3.64 billion to reach approximately $48.33 billion. Notably, the gain was driven almost entirely by price rather than accumulation: BlackRock actually trimmed its Bitcoin position by 3,420 coins over the month, moving from 743,190 to 739,770 BTC. Bitcoin's price did the heavy lifting instead, rising $5,202, or 8.65%, to trade near $65,330.
ETHA Tells a Different Story
The iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) showed the opposite pattern. Its value rose $1.16 billion to $5.62 billion, but this time BlackRock was an active buyer, adding 105,920 ETH to bring its holdings from 2.77 million to 2.88 million coins. Ethereum's price also outpaced Bitcoin's on a percentage basis, gaining more than 21% over the month to trade around $1,952 at the time of reporting.
What's Driving the Rotation
The diverging approach — selling into Bitcoin's rally while buying more Ethereum — points to a degree of institutional rotation toward ETH, which analysts have linked to increased global regulatory clarity around crypto markets. Some market watchers pointed to the ETH/BTC chart as confirmation of a broader reversal after Ethereum spent much of the prior month stuck in a falling trend against Bitcoin.
Whether that rotation continues into August will likely hinge on regulatory developments and whether Ethereum can sustain its recent outperformance relative to Bitcoin, but for now BlackRock's fund flows suggest institutional conviction is building on both sides of crypto's two largest assets.
