IBIT is a U.S.-listed trust that holds spot Bitcoin rather than Bitcoin futures. It seeks to reflect Bitcoin price performance and uses the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate — New York Variant as its benchmark. Investors trade shares in a securities account without arranging Bitcoin custody themselves. Bitcoin trades around the clock, but IBIT shares follow U.S. exchange hours and incur trust expenses.
History and development
IBIT was established on January 5, 2024, as a Nasdaq-listed bitcoin trust. Physically backed bitcoin products gave investors a way to incorporate spot-bitcoin exposure into brokerage accounts.
Unlike the bitcoin-futures ETFs that preceded it, the trust holds bitcoin itself. Custody and benchmark valuation, rather than futures-contract rolls, underpin the product. Bitcoin trades over weekends, but the trust's shares follow stock-exchange trading hours.
References: iShares: IBIT overview
Comparing charts on this board
Compare IBIT with BTC/USD and the Nasdaq-100 to distinguish bitcoin-specific moves from broader risk-asset trends. When bitcoin and growth stocks rise together, examine interest rates and risk appetite. A large move isolated to bitcoin directs attention toward crypto-market developments.
Bitcoin trades over weekends while IBIT follows US exchange hours. Overnight and weekend changes can therefore appear together in IBIT at the next opening. Compare trading hours and percentage-change baselines rather than treating the two charts as continuous series running on the same clock.
Related charts: BTC / USD · NASDAQ 100 · USD / JPY
Official references: iShares: IBIT overview