It just got 25 times easier to move self-custody Bitcoin directly onto Wall Street, and $5 billion already has

BlackRock cut the minimum for converting privately held Bitcoin into IBIT shares from $25 million to $1 million, while Bitwise lowered its floor from $100 million to $3 million. While this might sound like a niche development for a small number of institutional users, it signals that custody is no longer just a slogan for Wall Street.

BlackRock cut the minimum transaction size for a qualifying Bitcoin holder to convert coins directly into shares of its iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF from $25 million to $1 million in July, the company told Bloomberg. The 96% reduction now brings a service once reserved for the richest whales within reach of a much larger class of family offices and wealthy clients, and BlackRock says the program has processed more than $5 billion to date.

Bitwise made an even steeper cut, taking its minimum from $100 million for its first such transaction to $50 million and now $3 million. The cut reduced Bitwise's threshold by 97%, and each conversion preserves exposure to Bitcoin price while placing the coins inside the fund's custody structure.

The cheaper entry point is an important rethink of a decision once shaped by the execution costs and possible tax bill of selling coins, wiring dollars, and repurchasing exposure through an ETF. An in-kind conversion compresses those steps into one institutional transaction, giving the holder ETF shares that fit inside a brokerage account and the familiar systems that surround it.