Key Insights:
- Bitcoin news shows government funds bought the 40% correction, while IBIT lost $118 million daily.
- Abu Dhabi government funds invested over $1 billion in IBIT during late 2025 despite bleeding outflows.
- Mystery Hong Kong buyer Laurore added $436 million in IBIT as the largest new accumulator during fear.
Bitcoin news revealed something unusual in February 2026. While most investors sold their Bitcoin ETF shares, Abu Dhabi government funds did the opposite. They added over $1 billion to BlackRock’s IBIT during late 2025.
IBIT was bleeding daily, with $118 million leaving on Feb. 18 alone. Bitcoin dropped 40%, from $127,000 to $67,000. Yet Abu Dhabi kept buying.
Abu Dhabi Adds $1 Billion While IBIT Bleeds
Mubadala Investment Company manages hundreds of billions for Abu Dhabi. Their IBIT position grew 46% in late 2025, from 8.7 million to 12.7 million shares worth $631 million. Al Warda Investments added 8.2 million shares worth $408 million. Together, over $1 billion went into one Bitcoin fund.
IBIT suffered heavy outflows throughout 2026. Feb. 17 saw $105 million leave all Bitcoin ETFs, with IBIT losing $120 million. Feb. 18, lost another $118 million. Total 2026 outflows hit $4 billion to $6 billion. Abu Dhabi bought during the worst selling pressure.
Government funds plan for decades, not months. They see price drops as buying chances, not reasons to panic. This shows completely different thinking than short-term traders who sell when fear rises.
Bitcoin News Shows Mystery Buyer and Harvard Pattern
A Hong Kong company called Laurore Ltd. became the biggest new buyer. They bought 8.78 million IBIT shares worth $337 million to $436 million. Laurore owns only IBIT shares and nothing else. This single position bet suggests strong conviction.
Some think Laurore helps Chinese money access Bitcoin since China bans direct buying. The mystery name and concentrated position point to quiet accumulation by someone with serious capital.
Harvard University reduced IBIT by 21%, selling from 6.8 million to 5.3 million shares worth about $72 million.
But they bought $87 million in BlackRock Ethereum ETF at the same time. Harvard rotated between crypto assets rather than exiting completely. They still keep over $350 million in crypto ETFs, showing a measured approach during market weakness.
Government Funds See Something That Others Don’t
Abu Dhabi treats Bitcoin like gold or oil investments. These are long-term bets on scarce assets. Bitcoin has a fixed supply of 21 million coins that can never increase. As more people want a limited supply over many years, basic economics suggests prices should rise.
IBIT holds about 760,000 Bitcoin, equal to 3.8% of the total supply. Fund value sits around $50 billion, down from $115 billion peak. Abu Dhabi now owns a bigger piece bought during fear when others sold.
History shows this pattern before in Bitcoin news cycles. Bitcoin price dropped to $3,800 in March 2020 during virus panic, then hit $69,000 next year. It crashed to $15,500 in 2022, then reached $127,000 in late 2025. Each time, smart money bought the fear and profited from the recovery.
Now, another 40% drop creates another fear cycle. Abu Dhabi bets the pattern repeats based on Bitcoin news fundamentals. Their decades of profitable investing suggest they might see value others miss when prices fall hard. Time will tell if they called another bottom correctly, but government funds rarely make billion-dollar bets on short-term gambles. They believe Bitcoin will grow over many years, regardless of temporary crashes along the way.
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2026/02/20/bitcoin-news-why-abu-dhabi-put-1b-into-ibit-during-the-sell-off/
