NYDIG’s Greg Cipolaro says a sale below market price and giving up millions of dollars for immediate execution indicates a large directional holder exited a trade on BlackRock’s IBIT last week. A $1.26 billion block trade in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) made last week was likely a whale making a quick exit on a directional trade, says Greg Cipolaro, the head of research at financial services company NYDIG. On Tuesday, an unknown trader sold 29.2 million shares of BlackRock’s IBIT on a dark pool, a private trading platform that institutions use to discreetly make large trades outside public markets, sparking speculation about who made the trade and why. Cipolaro said in a research note on Friday that several indicators were “consistent with a large directional holder exiting a concentrated position rather than a contemporaneous basis-trade unwind.” Read more
The bank raised its reported IBIT holdings by 174% in the first quarter while also adding exposure to select Bitcoin, Ether and Solana-linked funds. JPMorgan Chase increased its reported holdings in several Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the first quarter, led by a 174% jump in its position in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), according to a 13F filing published Wednesday. The bank increased its position in IBIT from around 3 million shares in Q4 2025 to 8.3 million shares, according to the filing. The increase added about $162 million in reported value, based on filing data, despite Bitcoin price falling by more than 22% in Q1, according to CoinGlass data. Read more
BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF drew $322 million in inflows Tuesday, offsetting outflows from rival funds including Fidelity and Grayscale. US spot Bitcoin ETFs saw mixed trading flows on Tuesday, with BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) offsetting redemptions. Spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) logged $225.2 million in net inflows, according to data from SoSoValue. The gains were driven largely by IBIT’s $322.4 million in inflows, which offset $89.3 million in outflows from Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) and $28.2 million from Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC), according to Farside data. Read more
US spot Bitcoin ETFs continue to see slowing outflows as investors and analysts examine Q4 2025 filings showing which institutions bought and sold crypto ETFs. US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) posted $104.9 million in net outflows on Tuesday in the first trading session this week. Total trading volume in spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs fell to just over $3 billion, down nearly 80% from a record $14.7 billion on Feb. 5, reflecting a continued slowdown in trading activity, according to SoSoValue data. The outflows came as another round of institutions reported their Bitcoin ETF holdings for the fourth quarter of 2025, with Jane Street ranking as the second-largest buyer of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) in Q4, buying $276 million. Read more
BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF posted inflows on Friday following a turbulent week for Bitcoin, marking only its 11th day of net inflows in 2026. BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) saw $231.6 million in inflows on Friday, following two days of heavy outflows during a turbulent week for Bitcoin. The iShares Bitcoin (BTC) Trust ETF (IBIT) saw $548.7 million in total outflows on Wednesday and Thursday as crypto market sentiment declined to record-low levels, with Bitcoin’s price briefly dropping to $60,000 on Thursday, according to Farside. Preliminary Farside data show inflows across nine US-based spot Bitcoin ETF products totaling $330.7 million, following three days of collective outflows totaling $1.25 billion. Read more
Traders were active in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF on Thursday as Bitcoin plummeted, falling 12% in the last 24 hours. BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) has reportedly seen an all-time peak daily trading volume as traders responded to Bitcoin’s rapidly crashing price. The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) “crushed its daily volume record” on Thursday, with $10 billion worth of shares trading hands, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said on X. Balchunas added that IBIT dropped 13% on the day, its “second-worst daily price drop since it launched,” with its biggest daily price crash coming in at 15% on May 8, 2024. Read more
Based on dollar-weighted flows, aggregate returns for investors in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust have turned negative following Bitcoin’s recent sell-off. Bitcoin’s sharp decline over the weekend has likely pushed the aggregate investor position in the largest spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) into negative territory, underscoring the severity of the recent downturn. According to Bob Elliott, chief investment officer at asset manager Unlimited Funds, the average dollar invested in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) is now underwater following Friday’s close. The shift coincided with a steep drop in Bitcoin’s (BTC) price, which slid into the mid-$70,000 range. Elliott shared a chart tracking aggregate, dollar-weighted investor returns, showing cumulative gains slipping slightly into negative territory as of late January. Read more
BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF ranked sixth in 2025 ETF inflows despite posting a negative annual return, a signal analysts say reflects long-term conviction. BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT, has ranked sixth in net inflows despite being the only fund in the top cohort posting a negative return for the year. Data shared by Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas shows IBIT pulling in roughly $25 billion in year-to-date inflows, even as its annual performance sits in the red. By comparison, several traditional equity and bond ETFs ahead of IBIT on the leaderboard posted double-digit gains, while gold-backed ETF GLD, which is up more than 60% on the year, attracted less capital than IBIT. Balchunas described the result as a “really good sign” over the long term, arguing that the flows reveal more about investor behavior than short-term price action. Read more
BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF ranked sixth in 2025 ETF inflows despite posting a negative annual return, a signal analysts say reflects long-term conviction. BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT, has ranked sixth in net inflows despite being the only fund in the top cohort posting a negative return for the year. Data shared by Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas shows IBIT pulling in roughly $25 billion in year-to-date inflows, even as its annual performance sits in the red. By comparison, several traditional equity and bond ETFs ahead of IBIT on the leaderboard posted double-digit gains, while gold-backed ETF GLD, which is up more than 60% on the year, attracted less capital than IBIT. Balchunas described the result as a “really good sign” over the long term, arguing that the flows reveal more about investor behavior than short-term price action. Read more
BlackRock says $2.34 billion in November outflows from IBIT are normal as demand once pushed the ETF near $100 billion. BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) closed November under pressure after experiencing heavy withdrawals, but the asset manager remains confident in its long-term outlook for the product. Speaking in São Paulo, BlackRock business development director Cristiano Castro said the company’s Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs had become one of its biggest revenue drivers, calling their growth “a big surprise” given how fast allocations surged this year. Castro’s comments followed a rough month for BlackRock’s US-listed IBIT, which logged an estimated $2.34 billion in net outflows across November. The two largest withdrawals came mid-month, with about $523 million leaving on Nov. 18 and roughly $463 million on Nov. 14. Read more