BlackRock Cuts IBIT Bitcoin In-Kind Minimum 96% to $1M as Assets Reach $47.8B

Points of Focus

• BlackRock cut the Bitcoin-to-IBIT in-kind minimum 96%, from $25 million to $1 million.
• IBIT’s prospectus says qualifying in-kind creations can avoid a US federal taxable event.
• The $1 million threshold still does not open in-kind conversions to retail investors.

BlackRock has cut the minimum for in-kind Bitcoin exchanges into its iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF from $25 million to $1 million, lowering the entry barrier for large BTC holders seeking IBIT shares without first selling for cash. BlackRock digital assets head Robbie Mitchnick disclosed the new threshold on Bloomberg Television’s ETF IQ, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.

Interesting: Robbie Mitchnick said on show just now that bitcoiners can do in-kind exchanges of btc for IBIT for $1mil minimum now. It used to be $25mil. https://t.co/uGA74JG2Mv

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) August 10, 2026

BlackRock lowers IBIT in-kind Bitcoin threshold by 96%

The change comes about a year after the US Securities and Exchange Commission approved in-kind creations and redemptions for spot crypto exchange-traded products on July 29, 2025. Before that decision, US spot Bitcoin ETFs relied on cash creations and redemptions. The SEC said the in-kind process could reduce costs and improve market operations for issuers, authorized participants and investors.

BlackRock’s filings show why the $1 million figure needs context. IBIT still creates and redeems shares only in baskets of 40,000 shares, and individual investors can’t place those orders with the trust. At IBIT’s $36.19 NAV on Aug. 10, one basket was worth about $1.45 million. Only registered broker-dealers with authorized-participant agreements can submit basket orders for cash or bitcoin.

The new $1 million minimum therefore doesn’t shrink IBIT’s basket size or open a retail conversion route. BlackRock’s prospectus allows an authorized participant, its designated agent or its client to supply the bitcoin needed for an in-kind creation, giving the lower threshold relevance to qualifying holders using that channel.

IBIT tax treatment gives Bitcoin holders a second route

The tax angle rests on IBIT’s grantor-trust structure. BlackRock’s prospectus says a shareholder acquiring shares through a basket creation by delivering bitcoin won’t trigger a taxable event, while the tax basis and holding period carry over to the bitcoin represented by the shares.

That treatment has a limitation. BlackRock’s counsel says IBIT’s grantor-trust classification is “not free from doubt” and isn’t binding on the IRS. The IRS generally treats bitcoin as property and says exchanging digital assets for materially different property can create a capital gain or loss.

IBIT held $47.78 billion in net assets as of Aug. 10, according to BlackRock.