One move stood out Tuesday as investors pulled millions of dollars from U.S.-listed spot crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
An investor dumped more than $1 billion worth of shares in BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF, which trades under the ticker IBIT, in one dark pool trade. Dark pool trades are privately negotiated deals that allow the largest market participants to buy or sell large amounts of shares without tipping the public off or immediately crushing the spot price.
This large sale was just one on a day when total net outflows from 11 spot ETFs increased to $334 million. The ETF suffered seven consecutive days of net outflows, its second longest stretch since its inception in January 2024, resulting in a loss of $1.88 billion. The longest consecutive outflow was eight business days, with two outflows totaling $1.2 billion in late August and early September 2024, and another in February 2025 for a total of $3.3 billion.
Alex Thorne, Galaxy’s head of research, warned against trading in X, saying it was the largest deal he had ever seen. Thorne noted that the $1.289 billion transaction took place at 10:30 a.m. ET.
When a single company commits more than $1 billion at a time, that is usually considered a red flag. The company is wary of potential risks going forward and is reducing its exposure.
However, this transaction does not necessarily mean a withdrawal from the fund. It’s entirely possible that a company acted with high conviction to exit, while a buyer stepped in to absorb the volume.
Net outflows are the final tally for the day after the entire market has been bought and sold.
IBIT had to process $192.44 million worth of net redemptions, according to data source SoSoValue. This suggests that the overall momentum is controlled by investors heading for the exit.
This trend is becoming increasingly difficult for bulls to ignore. Investors have siphoned off a total of $2.26 billion from the ETF over the past two weeks. If these large-scale exits continue, the price of Bitcoin could continue to fall.
The largest cryptocurrency has already fallen to below $77,000 from a high of more than $82,000 on May 6, according to CoinDesk data.
