Why IBIT's Price Doesn't Match Bitcoin (And What It Means)
The Short Answer
IBIT's price doesn't move dollar-for-dollar with Bitcoin because each IBIT share represents only a fraction of one Bitcoin — currently about 0.000564 BTC per share. The ETF can also trade at small premiums or discounts to its underlying Bitcoin value. Add in weekend and after-hours timing gaps, and temporary price differences are completely normal — not a sign of something broken.
If you're seeing Bitcoin up while IBIT is flat (or vice versa), you're almost certainly running into one of the mechanics explained below.
Each IBIT Share Is a Fraction of a Bitcoin
The most common source of confusion is simple math.
One IBIT share does not equal one Bitcoin. Each share of iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) represents approximately 0.000564 BTC, which means roughly 1,772 IBIT shares equal one whole Bitcoin.
So when you see:
- Bitcoin at ~$84,000
- IBIT at ~$47
Those prices do line up once you apply the ratio: $84,000 × 0.000564 ≈ $47.38. IBIT isn't lagging Bitcoin — it's tracking it proportionally.
One more nuance: this ratio slowly declines over time. IBIT charges a 0.25% annual expense ratio, paid by selling tiny amounts of the fund's Bitcoin holdings. Over a full year the drag is modest, but it compounds — and it's why the BTC-per-share ratio is slightly lower today than it was at launch.
Key takeaway: Most “IBIT doesn't match Bitcoin” confusion is just fraction math plus fee drag — not mispricing.
Premium and Discount to NAV
Even after you account for the ratio, IBIT can trade slightly above or below its fair value.
That fair value is called NAV (Net Asset Value) — the dollar value of the Bitcoin held per share, recalculated at market close each trading day.
- Premium: IBIT trades above its Bitcoin backing. Usually caused by strong buying demand, bullish sentiment, or heavy options activity.
- Discount: IBIT trades below its Bitcoin backing. Usually caused by selling pressure or risk-off liquidations.
In practice, these gaps are tiny — often less than 0.5%. If IBIT's NAV is $47.50 but it trades at $47.65, that's only a 0.32% premium — roughly 15 cents per share.
Why do these gaps stay so small? Because of authorized participants (APs) — large institutions like Jane Street and Susquehanna that can create or redeem IBIT shares directly with the fund. When IBIT trades at a premium, APs buy Bitcoin, deposit it with the fund, create new IBIT shares, and sell them on the market — pushing the price back toward NAV. Discounts work in reverse. This arbitrage mechanism runs continuously and keeps IBIT tightly pegged to Bitcoin's actual value.
This is also why IBIT doesn't suffer from Grayscale's infamous discount problem. Before converting to an ETF, GBTC was a closed-end fund with no redemption mechanism — it once traded at discounts as deep as 40–50% to NAV. IBIT's open ETF structure prevents this entirely.
Weekend and After-Hours Gaps
This is the #1 source of panic — and the most common reason people search “why is IBIT down when BTC is up.”
Bitcoin trades 24/7/365. IBIT only trades during New York Stock Exchange hours: 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM ET, Monday through Friday.
That timing mismatch creates gaps:
Bitcoin drops 5% on Saturday night. IBIT still shows Friday's closing price all weekend. It looks like IBIT is “ignoring” the crash. Monday morning, IBIT gaps down at the open to match Bitcoin's new price.
Bitcoin rallies on Sunday. IBIT looks “cheap” versus BTC until Monday's open, when it gaps up to reflect the move.
This isn't a flaw — it's simply what happens when a 24/7 asset is wrapped in a market-hours ETF. Every spot Bitcoin ETF (FBTC, GBTC, ARKB, BITB) experiences the same weekend dislocation. There is no “better” ETF that solves this. It's a market-structure feature, not a product defect.
If you're checking prices on a Saturday night and something looks off, this is almost certainly why.
What This Means for Options Traders
IBIT options are priced off the ETF share price, not Bitcoin's spot price directly. This has a few practical implications.
Premium/discount effect: When IBIT trades at a small premium, call options are slightly more expensive in BTC terms. At a discount, they're slightly cheaper. For most retail trades, this effect is negligible — less than 0.5% in typical conditions.
Weekend gap risk is the bigger factor. If you're calculating break-even on an IBIT option over a weekend, Bitcoin may have already moved significantly while your IBIT strike hasn't updated. Your option's Greeks will reprice instantly at Monday's open, but your strike stays fixed. This can create unexpected slippage, especially for short-dated options or positions held through volatile weekends.
Strike conversion: An IBIT $50 call strike implies roughly $88,652 in Bitcoin terms ($50 ÷ 0.000564). If you want to know exactly what BTC price any strike implies, the math is always: Strike ÷ BTC-per-share ratio = Implied Bitcoin Price.
Bottom Line
IBIT's price doesn't match Bitcoin tick-for-tick because:
- Each share represents a fraction of a Bitcoin (~0.000564 BTC)
- Small premiums and discounts to NAV appear from normal trading dynamics
- IBIT doesn't trade when Bitcoin does (weekends, nights, holidays)
None of this is unusual, and none of it means IBIT is malfunctioning.
Check live IBIT parity and premium/discount →
This applies to all spot Bitcoin ETFs. You can also check FBTC, GBTC, ARKB, BITB, and BTC on the calculator.
Last updated: — ratio and parity data refresh daily.
FAQ
Why is IBIT down when Bitcoin is up?
Most often, you're seeing a weekend or after-hours gap. Bitcoin trades 24/7, while IBIT only trades during NYSE market hours (9:30 AM – 4:00 PM ET, Mon–Fri). If Bitcoin moved overnight or over the weekend, IBIT won't reflect that until the next market open. A small discount to NAV from short-term selling pressure can also contribute, but this typically self-corrects within minutes.
What is IBIT's premium or discount to NAV?
It measures how far IBIT's market price is from the actual value of Bitcoin it holds per share. A premium means IBIT costs more than its Bitcoin backing; a discount means it costs less. For IBIT, this gap typically stays under ±0.5% because authorized participants actively arbitrage any meaningful deviation.
Does IBIT perfectly track Bitcoin's price?
Almost, but not exactly. IBIT tracks Bitcoin proportionally through its BTC-per-share ratio (~0.000564). Small deviations come from the 0.25% annual expense ratio, brief intraday premium/discount fluctuations, and the fact that IBIT doesn't trade outside NYSE market hours while Bitcoin trades around the clock.