NYDIG: $1.26B IBIT Dark-Pool Sale Suggests Whale Exit

An unknown trader sold $1.26 billion worth of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) — 29.2 million shares — in a dark pool on Tuesday last week. The trade took place in a private venue that institutions use to execute large orders away from public order books.

The seller accepted an execution price about $1.01 below the $44.17 market level at the time, a difference that reduced proceeds by roughly $29.5 million in exchange for immediate completion of the block trade. Greg Cipolaro, head of research at NYDIG, wrote that the discount taken, the use of a dark pool and the concentrated size of the position are consistent with a large directional holder exiting a concentrated position.

Bitcoin’s price fell 2.8% on the day the block executed. U.S.-listed Bitcoin ETFs recorded a combined net outflow of $333.6 million that day, marking an 11th straight trading day of net withdrawals. Since May 14, those ETFs have seen more than $2.9 billion in net outflows, according to Farside Investors data. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index registered a score of 29, classified as “fear,” and averaged a reading of “fear” for May.

ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted that the market absorbed the large block without severe disruption and that liquidity handled the sale despite its scale. Large block trades can affect short-term price moves and investor sentiment, particularly for instruments linked directly to Bitcoin’s price.

Dark pools and other off-exchange platforms allow market participants to minimize visible market impact when shifting sizable positions, but they also obscure who is selling and why. Cipolaro outlined two possible explanations for the trade: a forced sale prompted by investor redemptions or balance-sheet constraints, or a deliberate decision by a holder to reduce exposure without selling over multiple days. He wrote, “Public data cannot distinguish conclusively between these explanations,” and added that at least one sophisticated holder appeared willing to pay roughly $29.5 million to eliminate a $1.26 billion bitcoin-linked position immediately.