BlackRock IBIT sees $1.3B dark pool sale

BlackRock IBIT saw $1.29 billion in shares cross a dark pool Tuesday, one of the largest blocks on record.

BlackRock IBIT saw $1.29 billion in shares cross a dark pool Tuesday, one of the largest blocks on record.

A nearly 29 million share block of the iShares Bitcoin Trust changed hands off-exchange at 10:30 a.m. ET, dwarfing every other IBIT trade of the session. Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas confirmed the print on X.

The crossing landed on the same day US spot Bitcoin ETFs lost another $333 million in net redemptions, tracked by SoSoValue. IBIT alone shed $192.4 million.

Why the IBIT block trade matters

“Confirmed.. 29 million share trade ($1.3b) of $IBIT executed at 1030am this morning,” Balchunas said on X. “Price unchanged today so mkt absorbed it well.”

The trade extended an eight-session outflow streak for the fund. Investors have pulled $2.26 billion from US spot Bitcoin ETFs since May 14, according to SoSoValue data.

Dark pools let sellers offload large positions without hitting public order books, masking the full weight of a transaction from the open market. The mechanism limits price impact but signals heavy institutional repositioning.

Bitcoin held near $76,000 immediately after the print but slipped about 1.4% on lower timeframes before extending losses. The asset traded around $74,800 at press time.

How the move fits broader ETF flows

The Tuesday print was not the sharpest single-day exit of the run. IBIT shed $448 million on May 18, when total spot Bitcoin ETF outflows hit $648.64 million.

Crypto.news previously reported that BlackRock-linked Bitcoin sales reached $1.01 billion over the prior week, the firm’s largest weekly disposal since November 2025.

The redemption stretch reverses a six-week inflow streak that pulled $3.4 billion into US spot Bitcoin ETF products through early May, documented at the time.

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Georgii Verbitskii, derivatives trader and TYMIO founder, said the market avoided a deeper decline because available supply was absorbed rather than because demand had returned.

“The reason the decline was not even deeper is that the market was still able to absorb a substantial amount of supply without a full liquidity breakdown,” Verbitskii said.

Shawn Young, chief analyst at MEXC Research, framed the print as portfolio adjustment rather than panic selling. He said the contained price reaction looked more like a large rebalance than a disorderly exit.

Macro pressure is compounding the flow picture. The CME FedWatch tool now prices a 99% probability the Federal Reserve holds rates at its June 17 meeting, removing a near-term catalyst for risk assets.

The total US spot Bitcoin ETF market still holds more than $98 billion in assets, with IBIT accounting for roughly 62% of the category. The product remains the largest Bitcoin ETF by net assets despite the recent drawdown.

Investor sentiment has also turned. The Fear and Greed Index slipped from 34 to 25, deeper into fear territory, as the dark pool trade and broader outflows reset expectations for the next leg.