BlackRock Bitcoin fund sheds $420M as ETF losing streak hits day seven
|Investors in BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust pulled out a record $420 million from the fund in a day as Bitcoin sunk to yearly lows.
BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin BTC $85,362 ETF (IBIT) shed 5,000 BTC on Feb. 26, its largest outflow to date, eclipsing the $332 million it lost on Jan. 2.
The massive outflow follows a record day of bleeding from the products on Feb. 24, when more than $1.1 billion exited on aggregate. It also culminates in a seven trading day outflow streak that has seen almost $3 billion exiting the products.
The BlackRock outflow brings the day’s total outflow to $756 million, according to preliminary figures from CoinGlass. However, ETF Store President Nate Geraci said he thinks it is a “shorter-term blip.”
The Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) also saw a seven-day outflow streak, with a further $145.7 million exiting the product on Feb. 26.
Bitwise, Ark 21Shares, Invesco, Franklin, WisdomTree and Grayscale all saw outflows ranging between $10 million and $60 million.
Bitcoin ETF flows. Source: CoinGlass
Crypto markets have extended losses, with total capitalization falling a further 5.6% on the day to $2.9 trillion and Bitcoin dumping to a low of $82,455 on Feb. 26.
The market correction now stands at 25%, with $1 trillion exiting the space since its all-time high on Dec. 17.
However, CryptoQuant founder and CEO Ki Young Ju said it would be a “noob” mistake to “panic sell,” and a 30% correction in a Bitcoin bull cycle is common as “it dropped 53% in 2021 and still recovered to an ATH,” he said.
“Buying when prices rise and selling when they fall is the worst investment strategy,” he said on X.
Analysts and industry experts such as BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes and 10x Research head of research Markus Thielen said that the majority of Bitcoin ETF investors are hedge funds seeking arbitrage yields, not long-term BTC investors, and they are now unwinding their positions as these yield opportunities dry up.
Hayes predicted on Feb. 24 that BTC would dump to $70,000 on the continued outflow from spot ETFs. Traders have also targeted the $74,000 zone as US President Donald Trump threatened more trade tariffs.
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