BlackRock, the largest publisher of Bitcoin [BTC] ETFs saw some of the largest capital outflows in their stocks. BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) has more than $66 billion in assets under management (AUM), almost five times as much as second-place Fidelity at $14 billion.
Furthermore, the impact of the selling was felt in both Bitcoin ETFs and BTC prices.
Dark pool block trading hits BlackRock’s IBIT
According to Bloomberg ETF analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart, a huge trade in dark polar blocks hit BlackRock’s IBIT shares.
During the trading session in New York, investors sold 29.2 million IBIT shares worth approximately $1.29 billion. At about $43 per share, this was among the largest institutional sales on record. Despite the sell-off, IBIT shares continued to trade at about the same level.
The volume traded during the session exceeded the average daily IBIT turnover.
However, some major players remained optimistic. Institutional traders collected nearly $1 million in IBIT call options that expired in December. This positioning indicated a long-term bullish trend, even as the short-term outlook remained bearish.
The capital flows of Bitcoin ETFs
For example, BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF saw a net outflow of 2,537 BTC worth $192.34 million. These outflows meant that IBIT had gone on a seven-day streak, with 90-day trading volume reaching $3.6 billion.
Other Bitcoin ETFs that saw outflows included Grayscale, Fidelity, and Bitwise, with 534 BTC, 746 BTC, and 372 BTC leaving respectively.
In total, the sale of BlackRock’s IBIT shares resulted in an outflow of 4.32K BTC worth $324 million. Total daily trading volume was $6.07 billion.
Has Bitcoin Absorbed the Selling Pressure?
On the charts, Bitcoin’s price fell from about $78,000 to $76,500 immediately after the sale of BlackRock’s IBIT shares. BTC fell below the 50-day moving average (DMA), but the bulls are fighting to maintain support at the 21st DMA.
As the price continues to decline, it appears to be stabilizing above $75,600. It’s almost approaching $76,000. This suggests that BTC may have absorbed this selling pressure. The stabilization around current levels can be assumed as a second retest of the consolidation of the range between $63,000 and $75,000.
Notably, daily trading volume increased by 68% to approximately $36.21 billion, indicating that there may be buying pressure from the discount promotion.
Therefore, BTC’s stance remains bullish unless the price falls below $75K and continues to fall.
Final summary
- BlackRock’s IBIT shares saw record selling of $1.29 billion in one trading session, fueling Bitcoin’s price weakness.
- Bitcoin stabilized above $75K, just below the 50 DMA, but bulls kept the price above the 21 DMA.