[Wu Blockchain News] BlackRock Sees Record Demand From Bitcoin Whales Converting BTC Into IBIT Over Security Concerns

Barron’s cited roughly $3.6 billion in such conversions, with the true total potentially higher. The moves use in-kind transactions, letting investors swap existing BTC for ETF shares without first selling on the open market. Because the conversions reflect a shift in custody arrangements rather than necessarily new capital entering Bitcoin, they may not register as fresh inflows. Watch whether the pace of whale conversions continues and how much of the activity shows up as net creations in IBIT rather than asset migration.