BlackRock's IBIT shrank $105 million on Friday, yet its share count is flat since September
IBIT, BlackRock's spot bitcoin fund, cut 2.44 million shares on November 6, about 1,380 BTC. Yet it has slightly more shares than on September 30, so nearly all of its $6.4 billion drop in assets since then came from bitcoin's price.
Key points
- IBIT's shares outstanding fell from 1,418,160,000 on November 5 to 1,415,720,000 on November 6, 2026, per iShares: about $104.6 million at that day's NAV.
- That is roughly 1,380 BTC leaving a fund that held 801,241 BTC on November 5.
- IBIT had 1,414,960,000 shares on September 30, so its share count is up 0.05% since then, while net assets fell 9.5% to $60.70 billion as bitcoin fell.
What changed on Friday
BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT), a U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund, got smaller on Friday, November 6, 2026. Its shares outstanding dropped by 2,440,000, from 1,418,160,000 on November 5 to 1,415,720,000 on November 6, according to the iShares fund page and its November 5 holdings file.
At Friday's net asset value (NAV) of $42.8752 per share, those shares were worth about $104.6 million. The fund's total net assets stood at $60.70 billion at the close.
How shares turn into bitcoin
A spot bitcoin ETF does not trade bitcoin every time someone buys or sells its shares on the stock market. Instead, large firms called authorized participants create new shares in big blocks, called baskets, or hand blocks back to be canceled. When shares are canceled, the fund releases the bitcoin behind them.
iShares lists one IBIT basket as 22.64 BTC, worth $1,714,893.56 on November 6. That works out to 40,000 shares per basket, so Friday's drop equals 61 baskets. The November 5 holdings file shows 801,241.17 BTC behind 1,418,160,000 shares, or about 0.000565 BTC per share. On that ratio, the 2.44 million canceled shares stood for about 1,380 BTC, leaving the fund with roughly 799,860 BTC.
Since September: shares flat, assets down 9.5%
One day of redemptions is small next to the fund's size: about 0.17% of its shares. The longer view is more telling. IBIT's September 30 fact sheet lists 1,414,960,000 shares and $67.06 billion in net assets (the fact sheet says these figures reflect positions as of the prior day). Five weeks later the share count is 760,000 higher, about $32.6 million at Friday's NAV.
Net assets, though, fell by about $6.37 billion, or 9.5%. Because the number of shares hardly changed, nearly all of that loss came from the falling bitcoin price. The fund's CF Benchmarks reference index stood at $75,754.71 on November 6, and iShares shows IBIT's NAV total return for 2026 at minus 13.13% as of November 5.
IBIT shares outstanding
million shares
Source: iShares, fund page, holdings file and September 30 fact sheet
What the numbers do not show
This is one fund. U.S. investors can choose from several other spot bitcoin ETFs, and we could not check every issuer's daily share data for this story, so Friday's total for the whole group is not shown here. Issuer data also lands with a lag, and holdings files are dated a day before the share count on the fund page.
Trading volume tells a calmer story. IBIT traded 42.8 million shares on Friday, close to its 30-day average of 41.3 million, and its price closed at $42.88, a 0.02% premium to NAV. Bitcoin traded near $75,900 on Sunday morning, little changed over 24 hours, per CoinGecko.
LC Insight analysis
This section is our reading of the facts above, not a statement of fact.
- We think the flat share count since September is the key fact: IBIT holders have mostly sat tight through a 9.5% drop in assets, which looks more like waiting than giving up.
- A $105 million redemption day is ordinary for a $60 billion fund. A run of such days, visible as a falling share count week after week, would matter more than any single print.
- The next thing to watch is whether creations return if bitcoin holds near $76,000. One day of data cannot show which way the flows will go.
What's next
- IBIT's shares outstanding on the iShares page for November 9 and 10
- Other issuers' share counts (Fidelity FBTC, Grayscale GBTC, ARK 21Shares ARKB)
- Bitcoin price versus the $75,000 area on CoinGecko
Disclaimer. This article is based on public information and the sources listed below as of the update time shown. It is for information only and is not investment, legal or tax advice. Figures may change as companies and authorities publish new data.
