An Bitcoin ETF is effectively a company that does nothing but own bitcoins, so the value of a share depends solely of the value of the bitcoins owned by the ETF. For example, imagine that an ETF owns 1000 BTC worth a total of $97,000,000 and there are 1,830,200 shares. That means that each share is worth $53.
very good explanation/analogy, thanks a lot.
A ETF will take a deposit of money, buy bitcoins with it, and give the depositor the equivalent number of newly created shares. Or it will take a deposit of shares, sell the equivalent number of bitcoins, and give the proceeds to the depositor. The bitcoins owned by an ETF are held by a "custodian". CoinBase is the custodian for most ETFs.
Didn't know this. Was all the IBIT shares sold out to initial buyers?
I assume when someone buys IBIT from the market, he or she is buying it not from the Blackrock but from other retail investors?