How Many IBIT Shares Equal One Bitcoin? (Live Ratio)

Why This Number Matters

For a casual investor buying a handful of shares, the exact ratio might seem like trivia. For anyone sizing positions, trading options, or comparing ETFs, it's essential.

Portfolio sizing. If your goal is to hold the economic equivalent of exactly one Bitcoin through IBIT, you need the ratio to calculate how many shares to buy. At approximately 1,761 shares per Bitcoin and a share price of roughly $55, the math works out to about $96,800 — which should land close to Bitcoin's spot price. You can verify this yourself: multiply the share count by the share price and compare it to Bitcoin's market price. Small differences come from intraday moves and the fund's trading premium or discount, but the alignment is generally tight.

Options translation. IBIT options are quoted in share-price terms, not Bitcoin terms. To understand what a strike price actually implies about Bitcoin, you divide it by the BTC-per-share ratio. A $60 IBIT call, for example, implies a Bitcoin price of roughly $105,600 ($60 ÷ 0.000568). Without the ratio, there's no way to translate between the two. Our strike-to-BTC calculator does this conversion automatically.

Comparing ETFs. Different Bitcoin ETFs use different BTC-per-share ratios, so their share prices look wildly different even though a dollar invested in any of them buys roughly the same Bitcoin exposure. FBTC requires about 1,136 shares per Bitcoin. ARKB requires about 3,019. A “cheaper” share price does not mean more Bitcoin per dollar — the ratio is what tells you how much Bitcoin each share actually represents. See our comparison table for all ETFs side by side.

How the Ratio Is Calculated

The number of shares per Bitcoin isn't arbitrary. It's the result of a design decision at launch and a daily calculation from public fund data.

The creation process. When BlackRock launched IBIT in January 2024, they had to decide how much Bitcoin each share would represent. They could have set it at 1 BTC per share, which would have made each share cost over $40,000. They could have set it at 0.0001 BTC, making shares just a few dollars. They chose approximately 0.001 BTC per share at the initial design phase, adjusted to fit a target share price around $25 at launch. This starting ratio was a one-time design choice — what happens after launch is driven by math.

The daily disclosure. Every business day, BlackRock publishes two numbers through BlackRock's daily holdings disclosure: the total Bitcoin held by the trust and the total shares outstanding. The ratio is simple division.

For context, if the fund holds approximately 760,000 BTC across roughly 1.35 billion shares outstanding, the BTC-per-share comes out to about 0.000563. Our calculator pulls this data daily so the number stays current. The math is straightforward — what makes it interesting is why the ratio changes over time.

Why the Ratio Decreases Over Time

If you check this page a year from now, the shares-per-BTC number will be higher than it is today. The BTC-per-share ratio drifts downward, slowly but steadily, because of how ETF fees work.

The expense ratio effect. IBIT charges an annual sponsor fee of 0.25%. Unlike a subscription where you pay a bill from your bank account, the trust collects its fee by selling tiny amounts of Bitcoin from the fund's holdings. Every day, BlackRock accrues one-365th of that 0.25% fee and deducts it from the trust's Bitcoin. The total Bitcoin held shrinks slightly each day. The number of shares stays the same. Because the numerator decreases while the denominator holds constant, the BTC-per-share ratio decays.

A concrete example. At launch in January 2024, the BTC-per-share ratio was approximately 0.001. By early 2026, it's approximately 0.000568. The difference reflects two years of cumulative fee drag plus the dynamics of share creation and redemption as the fund scaled. Each share of IBIT today represents fractionally less Bitcoin than it did at launch.

The implication for investors. Does this mean you're losing money? Not necessarily. If Bitcoin's price rises by 50% over a period while the fee drag reduces your per-share BTC claim by 0.5%, your investment still grows by roughly 49.5%. The fee drag is real but small relative to Bitcoin's price movements. It does mean, however, that long-term IBIT holders will see their Bitcoin weight decrease compared to holding spot Bitcoin directly, where no management fees are deducted. For the full mechanics and multi-year projections, see our fee drag guide.

IBIT vs Other Bitcoin ETFs

Different ETFs slice Bitcoin into different share sizes. That's why the shares-per-BTC number varies significantly across funds, even though a dollar invested in any of them buys roughly the same Bitcoin exposure.

Approximate shares-per-BTC for each fund: IBIT requires roughly 1,761 shares per Bitcoin, FBTC about 1,136, GBTC about 1,268, ARKB about 3,019, BITB about 1,822, and the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC) about 2,237. These values change daily as each fund's expense ratio erodes its holdings at a different rate.

The key takeaway: a higher shares-per-BTC number doesn't mean the fund is worse. It means the shares are priced lower — like slicing a pizza into 16 pieces instead of 8. If you invest $10,000 into any of these funds at fair market pricing, you end up with approximately the same Bitcoin exposure. The ratio only determines how many shares that $10,000 buys. Where the funds genuinely differ is in fees, liquidity, and custody arrangements. For the full side-by-side breakdown, see our comparison hub.

How to Calculate Your BTC Holdings

If you already own IBIT and want to know your Bitcoin exposure, the formula is a single multiplication.

If you hold 500 IBIT shares and the current ratio is 0.000568: 500 × 0.000568 = 0.284 BTC, worth approximately $27,500 at current prices.

For the reverse — targeting a specific Bitcoin amount — divide by the ratio. To own exactly 1 BTC through IBIT: 1 ÷ 0.000568 = 1,761 shares, or roughly $96,800 at current share prices. Our homepage calculator automates both conversions: enter a share count to get the BTC equivalent, or enter a BTC target to get the share count.

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