A record amount of money has been withdrawn from the BlackRock bitcoin-ETF. What happens next?
Investors on November 18 withdrew a record $523 million from BlackRock's bitcoin exchange-traded fund - iShares Bitcoin Trust, Bloomberg calculated. This is the largest outflow in a day since the fund's launch, the agency notes. Investors withdrew money from ETFs for the fifth day in a row.
On Tuesday, the price of bitcoin fell below the key $90 thousand level, causing investors in 12 U.S. bitcoin-ETFs to be in the loss zone. These funds have already faced outflows of more than $3 billion in November, and nearly $2 billion of that was accounted for by the iShares Bitcoin Trust alone, Bloomberg writes. BlackRock did not respond to the agency's request for comment.
Bitcoin is now trading at $91,580, according to CoinDesk.
What does that mean?
The iShares Bitcoin Trust, the largest spot bitcoin ETF, has been a smash hit among investors since launching in January 2024. It has raised more than $72 billion under management, with nearly $26 billion in inflows so far this year. However, steady outflows from the fund in recent weeks are considered a bearish signal, Bloomberg notes.
"Outflows from ETFs combined with sales by long-term holders have narrowed market liquidity, pressuring the short-term bitcoin price and underscoring weakening confidence," said Dilyn Wu, research strategist at Pepperstone.
Sean Dawson, head of research at crypto-option platform Derive.xyz, noted that a significant portion of traders are hedging against bitcoin falling below the $80,000 level by Dec. 26. "Amid ongoing concerns about the sustainability of the US labor market and the reduced likelihood of a December rate cut to almost a coin flip, traders have almost nothing to give confidence in year-end growth," he added.
Bitcoin has fallen nearly 30% from the record high reached in October, dropping to its lowest level since April. Neither bitcoin itself nor the broader crypto market has yet recovered from the October 10 collapse, which liquidated about $19 billion worth of leveraged positions, Bloomberg notes.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
