Institutional outflows, which are among the primary causes of the ongoing cryptocurrency market sell-off, continued on Monday, February 2, with BlackRock in particular reducing its exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) by more than $600 million.
The world’s largest asset manager sold 6,306 BTC, worth around $496.41 million, and 58,327 ETH, valued at around $138.23 million, the day before, per data retrieved by Finbold from Lookonchain on Tuesday, February 3.
BlackRock alone thus accounted for 78% of the total daily U.S. Bitcoin spot ETF outflows and nearly 54% of the overall Ethereum redemptions.
BlackRock outflows continue
As mentioned, yesterday’s outflows were a continuation of last week’s negative trend. Indeed, from January 26 to January 30, the last week of the month, BlackRock recorded nearly $1.2 billion in combined outflows from its spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.
That is, the fund offloaded approximately $947 million worth of BTC through its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), alongside roughly $264 million of ETH via its iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA).
Bitcoin selling particularly accelerated toward the end of the week. On January 29, IBIT posted net outflows of about $318 million, followed by an even larger $528 million withdrawal the following day. Nonetheless, selling pressure was evident throughout the period, with $103 million in outflows on January 27.
Ethereum followed a similar, though more subdued, trajectory. Namely, ETHA experienced consistent outflows throughout the week, culminating in a significant $157 million exit on January 30 after shedding nearly $55 million the previous day.
Bitcoin and Ethereum prices slump amid weak institutional demand
These sustained withdrawals are coinciding with a sharp decline in Bitcoin’s price, which briefly traded below $77,000 on February 7.
By press time, though, the asset had somewhat recovered, trading at $78,420, down 14% on the monthly chart, while Ethereum is priced below $2,300, still down 27% over the same period.
Overall, the scale and timing of the outflows suggest a broader reassessment of market conditions. In other words, with both Bitcoin and Ethereum under sustained pressure, it appears that large investors moved to aggressively de-risk heading into February, a trend that is, for now, intact.
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