A single trader sold more than 29 million shares of BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) through a dark pool Tuesday — a $1.3 billion block trade that Alex Thorn of Galaxy Digital called the largest such IBIT trade he's ever seen. The sell order hit at 2:30 pm UTC and was more than 22 times larger than the second-biggest IBIT sell order recorded that same day, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas. Bitcoin dropped 1.45% within ten minutes of the trade, from $77,870 to $76,721, and later touched a 24-hour low of $75,600 — a 2.5% loss for the day.
The $1.3 billion dark pool trade
Dark pools let large investors move shares without showing their hand to the public market. Tuesday's block was executed at $43.16 per share, a price that still left the seller with a hefty exit. The identity of the trader hasn't been disclosed, but the scale suggests an institution unwinding a major position. The trade alone accounted for most of the day's net outflow from US spot Bitcoin ETFs, which hit $333 million on Tuesday. IBIT bled over $192 million of that.
Ripple effects on bitcoin
The timing wasn't great. US spot Bitcoin ETFs have now seen net outflows exceeding $2 billion since May 14 — eight straight days of red. Tuesday's flash drop pushed bitcoin to its lowest level in weeks, though it recovered slightly by late trading. The dark pool dump amplified selling pressure at a moment when sentiment was already fragile.
Institutional retreat deepens
The big money is pulling back. Jane Street cut its Bitcoin ETF holdings by about 70% in Q1. Goldman Sachs trimmed its position by 10%. Those moves, combined with Tuesday's monster sell order, paint a picture of institutions de-risking after a rough spring for crypto markets. Whether the dark pool trader was one of those firms or a different player entirely remains an open question — one the market will be watching closely in the days ahead.
