PakGazette – The beginning of 2025 brought an unexpected turn for BlackRock’s (NYSE 🙂) iShares Trust (IBIT) as investors withdrew a whopping $332.6 million in just one day, equivalent to 3,413 BTC. This is the ETF’s largest withdrawal since its launch, larger than the anti-record $188.7 million that occurred last December.
A top ETF analyst, Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas, reacted to the historic anti-record with more of a “glass half full” approach, stating that these pullbacks are expected and long overdue.
He also said that Bitcoin ETFs probably won’t continue to grow as fast, and while the amount of money left over might have taken some by surprise, it’s just a sign that things are changing. It’s like taking a breather on a journey you’ve been steadily advancing on, from an expert’s point of view.
The timing of these exits aligns with a developing story in Bitcoin price dynamics. There is a pattern on the charts that looks like a “head and shoulders” shape, and if it breaks below the $92,000 neckline, it could take the price as low as $70,000 per BTC.
The details still tell a different story, as IBIT ended 2024 on a strong note, generating more than $37 billion in inflows during the year. Its equivalent, ETHA, also received a lot of attention, raising $3.53 billion.
These ETFs helped solidify BlackRock’s place as a major player in institutional cryptocurrency investing, with Bitcoin holdings worth about $53 billion and Ethereum nearly $3.7 billion. But even the best of these funds can be affected by market cycles.
