When investors withdrew millions of dollars from U.S.-listed spot cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on Tuesday, one move stood out.
A single investor dumped more than $1 billion worth of BlackRock bitcoin shares ETF, which trades under the symbol IBIT, in a dark pool transaction. A dark pool trade is a privately negotiated transaction that allows larger market participants to buy and sell large quantities of shares without notifying the public or instantly crushing the spot price.
The sell-off was just one on a day in which total net outflows from the 11 spot ETFs rose to $334 million. The ETFs have suffered net outflows for seven consecutive days, the second-longest streak since their inception in January 2024, losing $1.88 billion. The longest consecutive streak of capital outflows is eight business days and occurred twice: in late August and early September 2024, for a total of $1.2 billion, and again in February 2025, for a total of $3.3 billion.
Alex Thorn, Galaxy’s head of research, highlighted the transaction in X, calling it the largest of its kind he has ever seen. Thorn noted that the $1.289 billion trade took place at 10:30 a.m. ET.
When a single entity sheds more than $1 billion in one go, it is generally considered a warning sign. The entity is wary of the potential risk ahead and is reducing its exposure.
However, the transaction does not necessarily imply a withdrawal from the fund. While one entity made a high-conviction move to exit, buyers may have stepped in to absorb the volume.
Net outflow is the final count for the day after all purchases and sales in the entire market.
IBIT had to process net refunds worth $192.44 million, according to data source SoSoValue. This suggests that the overall momentum was controlled by investors heading for the exit.
The trend is increasingly difficult for bulls to ignore. Investors have withdrawn a total of $2.26 billion from ETFs over the past two weeks. If these massive outflows continue, the price of bitcoin may continue to lose ground.
The largest cryptocurrency has already retreated to below $77,000 from highs above $82,000 on May 6, CoinDesk data shows.
