According to Arkham Intelligence, BlackRock transferred 30,000 Ether (ETH) worth roughly $71 million and 5,100 Bitcoin (BTC) worth approximately $441 million to Coinbase Prime. Amid growing pressure on BlackRock’s flagship Bitcoin ETF (the iShares Bitcoin Trust, IBIT), the transfer comes after BlackRock moved $160 million in Bitcoin and $44 million in Ethereum to Coinbase Prime on Tuesday.
According to Farside Investors data, IBIT has had three days of poor performance in a row, with net outflows of over $741 million this week. On Tuesday, US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded withdrawals of over $1 billion (the largest within 24 hours), with IBIT responsible for $164 million.
Previously, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes had cautioned that hedge funds’ trading strategy of longing IBIT and shorting CME futures for increased yield could jeopardize the price of Bitcoin.
BlackRock’s IBIT Records Daily Outflows
BlackRock’s IBIT recorded net withdrawals of $189 million on Thursday as the leading cryptocurrency’s price decline continued into a third day. Before BTC rose to all-time highs of nearly $109,000 on Inauguration Day, BlackRock’s BTC ETF experienced its record-high daily outflows of $332.6 million on January 2.
Since its debut in January 2024, it has only had 21 net outflow days. According to the iShares Bitcoin Trust Tracker website, IBIT is still the biggest of the US spot Bitcoin ETFs, having over $40.2 billion in total net inflows and $51.6 billion in assets under management.
With a 68% market share or $2.08 billion of Wednesday’s $3.01 billion trade, BlackRock’s IBIT also leads the market in trade volume. In the meantime, the US spot Ethereum ETFs experienced net withdrawals of $71.08 million on Thursday, with $26.1 million leaving BlackRock’s ETHA product, which led the outflows like its Bitcoin counterpart. Total withdrawals in the last five days are now $244.4 million.
Outflow Trend for US Spot Bitcoin ETFs
According to on-chain data, $275.83 million left all the US spot Bitcoin ETFs on February 27. This continued a seven-day run that currently stands at over $3 billion.
Other high outflows on Thursday were $53.78 million from Wisdom Tree Bitcoin Trust (BTCW), $12.82 million from Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund (BRR), and $7.25 million from Fidelity’s FBTC. This run of net daily outflows covers a record $1.1 billion on Tuesday and $754.53 million on Wednesday.
The GMCI 30 index represents a collection of the most popular 30 cryptocurrencies, and it is down about 12% this week to 150.16. BRN analyst Valentin Fournier said that the unprecedented ETF outflow streak has been inspired by growing uncertainty about President Trump’s tariff plans.
BlackRock To Reevaluate Attention on Australian Exposure
In a related development, the largest asset manager in the world, BlackRock, has announced that it would refocus its attention on Australia because of the country’s stretched valuations and slow growth compared to other strong markets, such as the United States and Japan.
According to Katie Petering, the asset manager is reevaluating its strategic asset allocation to diversify its portfolio due to uncertain regulations globally. Petering oversees the company’s multi-asset investment approach in Australia and New Zealand, where it manages close to $100 billion for clients.
The Reserve Bank of Australia stated that progress had been achieved on inflation when it lowered its cash rate last week from a 13-year record high of 4.35% to 4.10%. Still, it remained cautious about future monetary policy easing.
BlackRock’s head of fixed income for Australasia, Craig Vardy, stated that the labor market is the leading risk for Australia’s apex bank and that the 4% unemployment rate is causing them concern. He noted that this rate would lessen the likelihood of further rate decreases to boost household growth in Australia.
On-chain data shows that BTC trades at $78,695, a 7.8% decline in the last 24 hours. Ether is also down 10.8% and trades at $2,098.
