Bitcoin: How $1.29B in BlackRock IBIT trades sparked BTC ETF outflows

BlackRock, the biggest issuer of Bitcoin [BTC] ETFs, saw one of the largest capital outflows in its shares. BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) has more than $66 billion in assets under management (AUM), nearly five times that of second-place Fidelity at $14 billion. Moreover, the sale’s impact was felt across both Bitcoin ETFs and BTC prices. Dark pool block trade hits BlackRock's IBIT According to Bloomberg's ETF analysts, Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart, a massive dark pool block trade hit BlackRock’s IBIT shares. During the New York trading session, investors sold 29.2 million IBIT shares worth about $1.29 billion. At roughly $43 per share, this ranked among the largest institutional sales ever recorded. Despite the sell‑off, IBIT shares continued trading near the same levels. The volume traded during the session exceeded average daily IBIT turnover. However, some major players remained optimistic. Institutional traders accumulated nearly $1 million in IBIT call options expiring in December. This positioning signaled a long‑term bullish bias, even as the short‑term outlook stayed bearish. Bitcoin ETFs' capital flows For instance, BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF saw a net outflow of 2,537 BTC valued at $192.34 million. This outflow meant IBIT had seen a 7-day streak with 90-day trading volume reaching $3.6 billion. Other Bitcoin ETFs that saw outflows were those of Grayscale, Fidelity, and Bitwise, with 534 BTC, 746 BTC, and 372 BTC leaving, respectively. In total, BlackRock's IBIT share sale resulted in outflows of 4.32K BTC valued at $324 million. The total daily trading volume was at $6.07 billion. Has Bitcoin absorbed the sell pressure? On the charts, immediately after BlackRock's IBIT shares sale, Bitcoin's price fell from around $78,000 to $76,500. BTC fell below the 50-day Moving Average (DMA), but bulls are fighting to hang on to support at the 21 DMA. As the price continues to decline, it appears to be stabilizing above $75,600. It is nearly closing in on flipping $76,000. This suggests that BTC may have absorbed this sell pressure.The stabilization around current levels could be assumed as a second retest of the range consolidation between $63K and $75K. Notably, the daily trading volume has jumped 68% to around $36.21 billion, indicating buying pressure potentially from the discounted move. Therefore, BTC's case remains bullish unless the price breaks below $75K and continues to decline. Final Summary BlackRock's IBIT shares see a record sale of $1.29 billion in a single trading session, igniting Bitcoin's price weakness.  Bitcoin was stabilizing above $75K, just below the 50 DMA, but bulls were keeping the price above the 21 DMA.