Mystery Trader Dumps $1.26B in BlackRock Bitcoin ETF

• A mystery trader sold 29.2 million shares of BlackRock’s IBIT on Tuesday using dark pool.
• The net outflow of $333.6 million occurred on the same trading day as the huge IBIT deal, continuing a streak of 11 trading days for US-listed Bitcoin ETFs.

Financial services firm NYDIG’s head of research, Greg Cipolaro, speculates that last week’s $1.26 billion block transaction in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) was probably a whale quickly getting out of a directional move.

A mystery trader sold 29.2 million shares of BlackRock’s IBIT on Tuesday using dark pool, a private trading platform where institutions may covertly conduct big deals outside of public markets. This sparked suspicion over the motives and identities of the seller.

Several signs were “consistent with a large directional holder exiting a concentrated position rather than a contemporaneous basis-trade unwind,” according to a research note by Cipolaro. According to him, a big directional holding was likely selling since the seller accepted the offer for $1.01 less than the market price of $44.17, forewent $29.5 million to guarantee instant execution, and used a private trading platform.

Bitcoin ETF Outflows Continue

Major deals have the power to shift markets and influence public opinion. But in this instance, Bitcoin’s (BTC) value fell 2.8% on the trading day after the deal. Eric Balchunas, an ETF analyst for Bloomberg, said at the time that, despite the large block sell, the market took the sale very well.

The net outflow of $333.6 million occurred on the same trading day as the huge IBIT deal, continuing a streak of 11 trading days for US-listed Bitcoin ETFs, according to data from Farside Investors.

Since the last net inflow was observed across numerous funds on May 14, more than $2.9 billion has been pulled out of the ETFs. At the same time, public opinion has been all over the place. On Monday, the crypto market’s “fear” index—which gauges general opinion about cryptocurrencies—returned a score of 29 out of 100. For the month of May, it likewise averaged a “fear” rating.

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