BlackRock says large bitcoin holders are moving into ETFs for security

What BlackRock said

Large bitcoin holders are increasingly exchanging their coins for shares in exchange-traded funds because of security concerns, according to Robert Mitchnick, BlackRock's head of digital assets. Mitchnick made the comments to Barron's, and ForkLog reported them on 9 November 2026. ForkLog's headline frames the motive as fear of hacks.

An exchange-traded fund, or ETF, is a fund whose shares trade on a stock exchange. A spot bitcoin ETF holds bitcoin and is meant to track its price, so a buyer gets exposure to the asset through a broker rather than by holding the coins and their private keys. Holding coins directly means the owner carries the risk of losing keys or being hacked.

The account comes from one side of the market. BlackRock is a large issuer of bitcoin funds, and the observation about holders moving into ETFs is one the company is in a position to see in its own flows.

What the report does not say

ForkLog's report does not give figures. It does not say how much bitcoin has moved from wallets into ETF shares, over what period, or which holders are involved. It also does not say whether BlackRock supplied data to support the observation.

The report does not address whether the shift is large enough to show up in bitcoin's price or in overall custody trends, and it does not say whether other large holders or fund issuers agree with the description. Those questions are left open.