BlackRock’s IBIT Loses $2 Billion in Nine Straight Sessions as Bitcoin Falls Toward $73,000
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has lost more than $2 billion over nine consecutive trading sessions through Wednesday. Investors pulled $269.7 million on Wednesday alone, about 90% of the $300 million that left all US spot Bitcoin ETFs that day.
Bitcoin trades near $73,000, down 8.5% over the past week. US spot Bitcoin ETFs have posted nearly $1.44 billion in net withdrawals over five straight sessions.
What Happened This Week
Wednesday’s outflow rose from $95 million a day earlier, ending three sessions of easing withdrawals. Grayscale’s GBTC lost $39.1 million, while Morgan Stanley’s MSBT took in $9 million.
IBIT’s eighth straight outflow day came Tuesday with $78 million, bringing the streak to about $1.73 billion. Wednesday’s $269.7 million pushed the total past $2 billion. Stock funds meanwhile drew billions of dollars from investors buying the dip.
How Bitcoin Got Here
Bitcoin peaked near $126,000 in October 2025, then fell as ETF outflows, leverage unwinds and whale selling piled up. November 2025 brought a record $3.79 billion in ETF outflows. By early February 2026, the price had dropped to $60,000.
The worst stretch came in spring. During the May-June 2026 decline, outflows averaged $412 million a day in the final week, and investors withdrew on 88% of trading days. Bitcoin hit its yearly low of $58,566 on June 30.
A recovery followed over the summer. By October 6, the anniversary of the peak, Bitcoin traded near $86,000, about 32% below its record. That rebound did not last through the month.
The October and November Shocks
Bitcoin fell 7.3% in October, its second straight losing October, and entered November at $78,050. On October 29, Binance disclosed a hack of roughly $6.3 billion, and Bitcoin dropped below $77,000. More than $1.6 billion in crypto bets were liquidated, mostly long positions.
On October 30, spot Bitcoin ETFs lost $643 million, their largest single-day outflow since June. That date set the tone for November. By Tuesday, the funds had lost $1.6 billion for the month.
On November 11, MSCI confirmed it will remove Strategy from its global standard indexes, effective November 30. JPMorgan estimated the removal could trigger about $2.8 billion of passive selling. An index exit does not force Strategy to sell any bitcoin.
Why Money Keeps Leaving
Laser Digital’s derivatives desk pointed to weak spot demand, a persistently negative Coinbase premium and heavy liquidations of leveraged longs. A negative Coinbase premium means US buyers pay less than buyers on other exchanges. That points to soft American demand.
Bitcoin barely moved on Monday, even though the Nasdaq gained almost 3%. Bitcoin has not followed stocks higher. Investors are putting fresh money into equity funds instead.
Outflow data also has limits. Some ETF withdrawals reflect money moving between competing funds, or hedge funds unwinding trades that pair ETF shares with futures shorts. Not every dollar leaving IBIT is a bet against Bitcoin.
Research from DWF Labs found that ETF flows turn negative once Bitcoin falls about 7% below its 20-day high. Bitcoin’s 8.5% weekly drop fits that pattern.
The Case for a Bottom
Bitfinex said slowing outflows could be an early step toward a market floor, though not enough alone to confirm a recovery. In outflow streaks it studied this year, Bitcoin gained a median 6.4% over 10 sessions when the streak ended with at least three straight inflow days.
Wednesday’s jump in withdrawals cut against that pattern. The easing of the prior three sessions reversed. No inflow run has started yet.
Some institutions are adding exposure. Barclays raised its IBIT stake by 48% in third-quarter filings, as banks expand holdings. Those filings cover positions as of September 30, before the latest decline, so they say little about current buying.
What to Watch
Three items matter in the coming weeks. The first is whether ETF flows turn positive for three straight days, the condition Bitfinex tied to past rebounds. The second is the Coinbase premium, which shows whether US spot demand is returning.
The third is the November 30 MSCI deadline. The removal affects Strategy’s stock, not Bitcoin directly. Yet the passive selling falls on the largest corporate Bitcoin holder at a weak moment.
IBIT is the largest spot Bitcoin ETF, so its flows carry the most weight. Nine straight outflow sessions show that institutional demand has cooled since the Binance hack and the October slide. Bitcoin sits about 42% below its record, and the next move depends on whether the buyers who paused come back.
