---
title: "IBIT prices its bitcoin at 4 p.m. New York, not at the live coin price"
url: "https://etf.net/news/ibit-prices-bitcoin-daily-not-live-2026-11-06"
published_at: "2026-11-06T17:32:15.132Z"
updated_at: "2026-11-06T17:32:15.132Z"
byline: "ETF.net Research"
---

# IBIT prices its bitcoin at 4 p.m. New York, not at the live coin price

A buyer during the day pays the Nasdaq price, and on Nov. 5 the shares closed a penny from the net asset value struck after 4 p.m.

By ETF.net Research. Published Nov 6, 2026.

BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, IBIT, prices its bitcoin off a reference rate struck at 4 p.m. New York time, not off the live coin price. That is the rate the daily net asset value uses.

On Nov. 5, iShares' [product page](https://www.ishares.com/us/products/333011/ishares-bitcoin-trust-etf) put the close at $43.03 and the net asset value at $43.02, a penny apart.

## What a buyer pays at 11 a.m.

The shares trade on Nasdaq from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. New York time, the regular session in iShares' [annual report](https://www.ishares.com/us/literature/annual-filings/ibit-1231.pdf) for 2025. At 11 a.m. a buyer pays the price Nasdaq is quoting. The day's net asset value has not been calculated, and the bitcoin trades that will set it, from 3 to 4 p.m., have not started.

The report, filed Feb. 27, 2026, says the shares may trade at, above or below net asset value. It says IBIT intends to publish an indicative value every 15 seconds during the session, using the CME CF Bitcoin Real Time Index, with the prior day's net asset value as the base.

The report says that figure is there to give shareholders updated information during the day, and that it "should not be viewed as an actual real time update" of the net asset value, which is calculated only once, at the end of the day, from the 4 p.m. rate.

## How the 4 p.m. rate is built

The rate is the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate - New York Variant. iShares' [fact sheet](https://www.ishares.com/us/literature/fact-sheet/ibit-ishares-bitcoin-trust-etf-fund-fact-sheet-en-us.pdf) dated Sept. 30, 2026 calls it a once-a-day benchmark price for bitcoin, struck at 4 p.m.

CF Benchmarks, which administers the rate, builds it from bitcoin-for-dollar trades on exchanges that meet its criteria, and only from the hour between 3 and 4 p.m. New York time. It splits that hour into 12 slices of five minutes. In each slice it takes a middle price of the trades, counting a large trade more than a small one, and then averages those 12 prices equally.

CF Benchmarks described the hour, the slices and that equal average in a March 13, 2025 analysis. It said equal weight for each slice keeps a large trade, or a cluster of trades in a short stretch, from having an undue influence on the rate. Its methodology guide, dated Aug. 24, 2026, says trade size is counted so the rate reflects large trades.

Bank of New York Mellon, the trust administrator, calculates the net asset value from that rate as soon as practicable after 4 p.m., the [quarterly report](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1980994/000143774926026004/bit20260630c_10q.htm) for the period ended June 30, 2026 says. It typically publishes the net asset value by 5:30 p.m., and generally no later than 8 p.m.

That fact sheet shows the net asset value fell 26.80% over the year ended Sept. 30, 2026, and the reference rate fell 26.61%. The net asset value fell 0.19 percentage points more than the rate.

## Which price the shares follow

The shares follow the Nasdaq price. On Nov. 5 the close was $43.03, a penny from the net asset value of $43.02. The net asset value follows the 4 p.m. rate, and it is published after the close.

The indicative value during the session is not the net asset value, the annual report says.

The books use a different bitcoin price. The June 30 report says the financial statements take an exchange price at 11:59 p.m. New York time. A vendor designates that exchange each day, based on oversight, how much bitcoin trades there and how often.

The same report says the method used for the daily net asset value "may not be deemed consistent with U.S. GAAP," the accounting rules those statements follow. The statements may not use the daily net asset value.

Someone reading the quarterly report is looking at a vendor's 11:59 p.m. price, not at the net asset value. The shares themselves follow the Nasdaq price.

Source: etf.net, https://etf.net/news/ibit-prices-bitcoin-daily-not-live-2026-11-06. Please cite the page URL.