BlackRock Moves $616M in BTC, $199M in ETH to Coinbase

The recent market selloff is also extending to the crypto ETF markets. Amid major selling pressure affecting currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, exchange-traded funds based on digital assets are seeing significant outflows.

Yesterday, we reported how BlackRock’s crypto asset pools, IBIT (Bitcoin ETF) and ETHA (Ethereum ETF), began moving millions of dollars in assets to the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange.

The move, which points to potential redemption, is extending into this day. Yesterday, BlackRock moved $280 million in BTC and $200 million in ETH to Coinbase. Less than 24 hours later, the funds had already transferred an additional $616.09 million worth of Bitcoin and $199.73 million worth of Ethereum into the exchange.

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Coinbase serves as the primary custodian and liquidity hub for BlackRock’s crypto investment vehicles. This means that whenever investors redeem shares of IBIT or ETHA for cash, the fund manager moves the digital assets to Coinbase accounts, where they can be sold or reallocated. 

Aside from institutional trading, crypto ETFs tend to lag behind their corresponding digital asset prices. This lag means that BlackRock clients are reacting to this week's market drawback, when Bitcoin reached as low as $90,044 on Tuesday.

IBIT has been registering more outflows than inflows since October 11, as traditional investors follow suit with crypto market moves, reallocating their positions away from speculative markets. 

So far, all Bitcoin ETFs have collectively registered nearly $3 billion in outflows in November, while Ethereum ETFs saw almost $1.5 billion in capital withdrawal.