BlackRock IBIT Sees Biggest Outflow Since June
The outflow follows weaker market sentiment after the Binance hack and pressure on U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs. Despite the pullback, IBIT remains one of the biggest Bitcoin funds.
Key Takeaways
- BlackRock’s IBIT posted a net outflow of $405.3 million on November 2, the biggest daily outflow since June 26.
- The outflow came from customers redeeming ETF shares; with spot Bitcoin ETFs, that frees up Bitcoin from the fund.
- Across all U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs combined, net outflows totaled $1.04 billion after a broader sell-off and market jitters.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) posted a net outflow of $405.3 million (€361 million) on November 2. That led to claims online that BlackRock itself sold Bitcoin, but in reality it was customers redeeming their ETF shares. For Bitcoin holders, that difference is small, because with those redemptions the coins still leave the fund and return to the market.
Customers Pulled Money Out
The reaction on X followed Whale Insider framing the outflow as a sale by BlackRock. With spot Bitcoin ETFs, the fund holds Bitcoin directly. When investors sell their shares, the fund has to free up those coins to cover the smaller number of shares.
The $405.3 million (€361 million) outflow was according to Farside IBIT’s biggest daily outflow since June 26, when $444.5 million (€396 million) was pulled. That also marked a clear break from the previous four trading days, when IBIT instead attracted $410.6 million (€366 million) between October 26 and 29.
Pressure Across the Whole ETF Market
The reversal became even more obvious when another $233.7 million (€208 million) left IBIT on Friday. Together, that added up to an outflow of $639 million (€570 million) across two sessions. Across all U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs combined, net outflows climbed to $1.04 billion (€0.9 billion), while Fidelity’s FBTC was the only fund to attract $6.7 million (€6 million).
According to market data, the sell-off came a day after Binance was hit by the biggest crypto hack so far. Bitcoin ETFs had already seen a sharp outflow after that hack weakened market sentiment. TRM Labs linked the theft of $6.36 billion (€5.7 billion) to TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking group. That included 18,270 BTC taken from a Binance hot wallet. Caution ahead of the U.S. midterm elections and weakness in tech stocks also played a role in the broader mood.
Why This Matters
For European crypto followers, this shows how quickly spot Bitcoin ETFs can reflect sentiment around BTC. For many institutional investors, these funds are an important gateway to Bitcoin, which makes large inflows and outflows immediately visible in market data. At the same time, IBIT still remains one of the biggest Bitcoin funds in the market, with $65.9 billion (€58.8 billion) in cumulative net inflows since January 2024.