BlackRock has reduced the minimum transaction size for converting Bitcoin directly into shares of its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) to $1 million from $25 million, according to statements from the firm's digital-assets head on Bloomberg TV Monday.
Robbie Mitchnick, head of digital assets at BlackRock, said the firm intends to lower the threshold further over time with the eventual goal of making in-kind Bitcoin conversions available at any transaction size. The mechanism allows institutional and qualified holders to exchange BTC directly for IBIT shares without selling the underlying asset, a structure that avoids taxable events for certain investors.
IBIT, which launched in January 2024, has accumulated roughly $20 billion in assets under management and ranks among the largest spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States. The in-kind conversion feature is standard among ETF providers and typically requires a minimum deposit size large enough to justify operational costs. By cutting the threshold to $1 million, BlackRock is broadening access to the mechanism beyond the largest institutional players while maintaining economies of scale.
The $25 million prior minimum was restrictive relative to the current price of Bitcoin, which trades in the $98,000 range as of August 2026. At that level, the old threshold would have required holdings of roughly 0.25 BTC; the new $1 million minimum translates to approximately 0.01 BTC at current prices. Mitchnick's stated intention to eliminate the minimum altogether reflects confidence in its operational infrastructure for handling these conversions at smaller sizes.
In-kind conversion mechanisms reduce settlement friction for large holders and can create incentives to move assets into ETF structures rather than hold them directly or on exchanges. The feature has become competitive among Bitcoin ETF providers seeking to differentiate on operational efficiency and cost. BlackRock's move to lower barriers mirrors similar efforts across the spot Bitcoin ETF industry to capture larger pools of institutional capital.
A reduction of this scale, from $25 million to $1 million, represents a 96 percent cut to the entry threshold and directly increases the addressable market for IBIT's in-kind conversion service. The stated path to eliminate minimums entirely depends on BlackRock's ability to process smaller conversions at acceptable margins, a metric the firm will need to demonstrate through execution over coming quarters.
The metric to watch is whether BlackRock announces a further reduction in the minimum before year-end 2026, and if so, to what level.
