Spot bitcoin ETFs are approaching their five-month anniversary. The ETFs, particularly the freshly launched ones, have had unprecedented levels of success, smashing records and commanding public attention. In particular, BlackRock’s IBIT has been the main focus, becoming a leader in inflows and volumes as it attracted investors by being attached to the world’s largest asset manager while boasting a competitive 0.25% fee.

But for some time, IBIT was not the largest spot bitcoin ETF by assets under management (AUM). Its main competition was Grayscale’s GBTC, which started with a huge leg up in terms of fund size relative to its competitors since it was a trust converted into a fund, unlike the other ETFs that were starting from scratch.

Grayscale was holding about 619,220 BTC …