The Roundup
- BlackRock’s Bitcoin fund hit record volumes on Thursday.
- Outflows from US crypto funds topped $434 million.
- Reasons for the crash are myriad.
A version of this article appeared in our The Roundup newsletter on February 6. Sign up here.
BlackRock just notched a new record for one of its winningest funds.
This time, the reason was less than bullish.
BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF, which trades under the ticker IBIT, broke $10 billion in trading volume amid Thursday’s market crash.
Looking more closely, that trading action was mostly from investors selling, as one would imagine when an asset plummets 20% in a week.
Indeed, more than $434 million exited various US-based crypto funds yesterday, according to SoSoValue.
BlackRock’s fund made up roughly 40% of that, followed by Fidelity’s Bitcoin fund.
Data for other funds paint an equally frantic picture.
CoinShares analyst James Butterfill reported that crypto products recorded $18.5 billion in trading volume on Thursday — the largest ever.
Today, Bitcoin trades at roughly $67,400 after briefly falling below $60,000 on some trading platforms early Friday morning.
And with the latest price action, the $1.3 trillion cryptocurrency officially gave up all its gains since pro-crypto US President Donald Trump was elected in 2024. Bitcoin wasn’t the only cryptocurrency to fall.
Ether fell below $2,000 on Thursday, while other leading altcoins posted crashes of more than 20% this past week.
The reasons are myriad, and unlike previous crashes, don’t hinge on the collapse of a large centralised exchange or a depegging stablecoin.
In fact, it looks a lot like general market skittishness stemming from weak US jobs data.
“It is likely a mix of tech equities being over extended while Bitcoin is failing its ‚safe-haven‘ test and being very sensitive to risk asset pricing,” Kaiko analyst Laurens Fraussen told DL News.
He added that Bitcoin will likely trade between $60,000 and $70,000 for the time being.
“The silver lining right now is that most of the aggressive selling is likely done,” Fraussen said.
Liam Kelly is DL News’ Berlin-based DeFi correspondent. Have a tip? Get in touch at liam@dlnews.com.
