BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management company, announced yesterday (2/29) that it is expanding its business to the Brazilian market in partnership with the Brazilian Stock Exchange B3. It is launching the Brazilian Depositary Receipts (BDR) for its Bitcoin ETF, IBIT, with the ticker symbol IBIT39. Trading for IBIT39 will be open during Brazil’s market hours today.
IBIT, the Bitcoin spot ETF launched by BlackRock, has become the second-largest Bitcoin ETF in terms of assets under management after Grayscale’s GBTC. According to Lookonchain’s statistics, IBIT acquired as much as 10,140 Bitcoins worth approximately $638 million in the previous trading day. Currently, IBIT holds a total of 151,536 Bitcoins, with a total value exceeding $9.15 billion.
BlackRock issues IBIT BDR in Brazil
In addition to the US market, BlackRock is also entering the Brazilian market. According to Portaldobitcoin’s report, BlackRock announced its partnership with the Brazilian Stock Exchange B3 yesterday (2/29) and launched IBIT’s Brazilian Depositary Receipts (BDR) in Brazil, with the stock symbol IBIT39. BDRs are certificates issued in other countries (in this case, the US) but traded in Brazil, similar to how TSMC’s stock is issued in Taiwan but traded as an ADR in the US.
The management fee for IBIT39 is the same as IBIT, at 0.25%, and will decrease to 0.12% within the first year or when the assets under management reach $5 billion. Although subject to similar taxation rules as stocks, BDRs do not enjoy any tax exemptions.
This is BlackRock’s first cryptocurrency ETF launched in Brazil and will be available for trading during tonight’s market hours. Karina Saade, the President of BlackRock Brazil, expressed her enthusiasm for expanding the Bitcoin spot ETF to Brazil. Felipe Gonçalves, B3’s Director of Interest and Currency Products, emphasized that this product provides investors with a new opportunity to include Bitcoin in their portfolios.
IBIT accounts for 42% of BlackRock’s total ETF net inflows
The successful listing of IBIT is significant for BlackRock. ETF analyst Eric Balchunas from Bloomberg pointed out that IBIT accounts for 42% of BlackRock’s total ETF net inflows.
Similarly, Fidelity Investments’ Bitcoin spot ETF, $FBTC, which accounts for only 2% of its ETF managed assets, has captured 64% of Fidelity’s total ETF inflows this year. These figures clearly demonstrate the high demand for Bitcoin spot ETFs from investors.