BlackRock Swoops on $1B Worth of Crypto in Two-Day ETF Frenzy

BlackRock has made significant cryptocurrency purchases through its ETF operations in a two-day stretch. The company acquired 11,098 Bitcoin and 132,769 Ethereum, worth around $1 billion, according to on-chain data tracked by Arkham Intelligence.

The purchases were made through BlackRock's spot ETF products, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA). When investors buy shares of these funds, the company needs to acquire the underlying assets to back those shares.

This isn't a speculative bet on token prices. Rather, it's fulfilling BlackRock's obligation as an ETF issuer to match share creation with actual asset purchases. The firm has been actively managing its ETF operations throughout 2026.