Crypto Currents: BlackRock ETF now holds 3% of all bitcoin

A massive influx of institutional capital is flooding into bitcoin, highlighted by asset management giant BlackRock’s spot bitcoin ETF now holding over 3% of the cryptocurrency’s total supply. The milestone comes as more companies, from fintech lenders to crypto exchanges, move to enter the public markets and U.S. states begin issuing their own digital currencies. Stay up on the crypto news that matters with “Crypto Currents,” daily from The Fly. Join us 2 PM daily for your essential briefing on the fast-moving world of cryptocurrency on FlyCast radio. Also, subscribe to our YouTube channel for the Crypto Fly By weekly recap.

BLACKROCK ETF HITS MAJOR MILESTONE: BlackRock’s (BLK) iShares Bitcoin Trust now holds over 662.5K BTC, accounting for more than 3% of bitcoin’s total circulating supply. The ETF’s holdings are valued at over $72.4B. The fund’s growth has been unprecedented, reaching $70B in assets under management in just 341 days, a milestone that took the SPDR Gold Shares ETF over 1,600 trading days to achieve, according to CoinTelegraph.

MORE CRYPTO FIRMS TAP PUBLIC MARKETS: The appetite for crypto-related public companies remains strong. Blockchain-powered lender Figure Technology has publicly filed for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “FIGR”. The company reported revenue of $190.6M for the first half of 2025, a 22.4% year-over-year increase, with a net income of $29M for the period. Meanwhile, the trend of public companies adding bitcoin to their balance sheets continues. KindlyMD (NAKA), which recently merged with Nakamoto Holdings to become a bitcoin treasury, announced it has closed a $200M convertible note offering to purchase more BTC. The move follows the strategy popularized by Strategy (MSTR), which recently purchased another 430 BTC. Following its recent IPO, crypto exchange Bullish (BLSH) has emerged as the fifth-largest public holder of bitcoin, with over 24,000 BTC on its balance sheet.

WYOMING DEBUTS FIRST STATE-BACKED STABLECOIN: In a new milestone for government adoption, the state of Wyoming has officially launched the Frontier Stable Token (FRNT), the first state-backed stablecoin in the U.S.. The token debuted on seven blockchains, including ethereum (ETH), solana (SOL), and avalanche (AVAX). Like most stablecoins, $FRNT is backed by cash and U.S. Treasuries, but instead of benefiting a private company, interest generated by the reserves will be directed to Wyoming’s School Foundation Fund.

ANALYST RESEARCH: According to an H.C. Wainwright research report, Jack Dorsey’s Block (XYZ) has introduced its first bitcoin mining products, including a modular miner called the “Proto Rig”. The rig’s design allows individual components to be swapped out, potentially extending the hardware’s useful life from 3-5 years to up to 10 years and reducing upgrade costs by about 20%. The research highlighted a strong July for bitcoin miners, with a dataset of 10 major miners seeing a collective 14.7% month-over-month increase in BTC production. The report also noted that for the week ended August 17, bitcoin mining stocks outperformed the broader market, closing up 6.3% on average, while U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs saw net inflows of $548M.

REGULATORY LANDSCAPE CONTINUES TO EVOLVE: Federal and state governments are actively shaping the rules for the digital asset industry. The SEC delayed decisions on nine crypto ETF applications, including spot funds for XRP (XRP), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Litecoin (LTC). Analysts believe the delays are temporary as the agency works to establish a streamlined framework for approving such products, with a batch of approvals anticipated in October. In Washington, stablecoin issuer Tether (USDT) hired Bo Hines, the former executive director of the White House Crypto Council, as a Strategic Advisor for U.S. Strategy. At the state level, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed two consumer protection bills into law, one to regulate crypto exchanges and another focused on crypto ATMs.

PRICE ACTION: As of the time of writing, bitcoin (BTC) was trading at $114,132.98, while ether (ETH) was trading at $4,210.07.