Whale alert: Someone dumped $1.29 billion of BlackRock's bitcoin ETF in a dark pool trade

The big sale happened amid a broader continued exodus from U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs.

What to know:

• An unknown investor executed a single $1.29 billion block sale of BlackRock’s IBIT bitcoin ETF in a dark pool on Tuesday, in what one analyst called the largest trade of its kind he has seen.
• The sale came amid a broader exodus from U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs, which saw a combined $333 million in outflows Tuesday and $2.26 billion withdrawn over the past two weeks.

As investors pulled millions of dollars out of U.S.-listed spot crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on Tuesday, one move stood out.

A single investor dumped over a billion dollars-worth of shares in BlackRock’s bitcoin BTC$75,724.24 ETF, which trades under the ticker IBIT, in one dark-pool trade. A dark-pool trade is a privately negotiated transaction, allowing the largest market participants to buy and sell large amounts of stock without tipping off the public or instantly crushing the spot price.

The massive sale was just one on a day that saw total net outflows from the 11 spot ETFs increase to $334 million. The ETFs have suffered net outflows for seven straight days, the second-longest run since their inception in January 2024, losing $1.88 billon. The longest consecutive outflow streak is eight trading days, occurring twice — in late August-early September 2024, totalling $1.2 billion and again in February 2025, totalling $3.3 billion.

Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy, flagged the transaction on X, calling it the biggest of its kind he has ever seen. Thorn noted that the $1.289 billion trade took place at 10:30 a.m. ET.

When a single entity dumps over $1 billion in one shot, it’s usually seen as a cautionary signal. The entity is wary of potential risk ahead and is scaling back exposure.

The transaction, however, doesn't necessarily signify a withdrawal from the fund. While one entity made a high-conviction move to exit, buyers may well have stepped in to soak up the volume.

The net outflow is the final tally for the day after all the buying and selling across the entire market.

IBIT had to process net redemptions worth $192.44 million, according to data source SoSoValue. This suggests that overall momentum was controlled by investors heading for the exit.

The trend is getting harder for the bulls to ignore. Investors have now yanked a total of $2.26 billion from the ETFs over the past two weeks. If these massive exits continue, the price of bitcoin may continue to lose ground.

The largest cryptocurrency has already pulled back to under $77,000 from highs above $82,000 on May 6, CoinDesk data show.

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