Big holders quietly shifted billions of dollars of Bitcoin last week, yet the market barely blinked. Data from Arkham Intelligence shows BlackRock-linked wallets sold Bitcoin every trading day last week, totaling about $1.01 billion — roughly 15,000 BTC — routed through Coinbase Prime. Those moves appear tied to redemptions from BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which experienced consecutive daily outflows as the spot-BTC ETF shed position. Outflows continued into the new week: Arkham recorded an additional $105.19 million on May 25 and $333.71 million on May 26. IBIT’s balance history tells the broader story: the fund’s holdings peaked near $75.5 billion around May 11, then slid almost uninterrupted to below $67 billion by May 26 — an approximately $8 billion drop in under three weeks. ETF flows across the industry mirrored the reversal. SoSoValue reports the 11 U.S. spot-Bitcoin ETFs posted net outflows of $1.26 billion over the five trading days from May 18–22. That’s a sharp pivot from April, when the same ETFs notched $1.97 billion in net inflows — the strongest monthly total so far in 2026. Meanwhile, classic “big-wallet” activity extended beyond ETFs. A Satoshi-era miner moved 2,650 BTC (about $203 million) in three transactions to major over-the-counter desks FalconX and Cumberland, Arkham found. The wallet still holds roughly 6,000 BTC — about $460 million. These OTC routes let large sellers find counterparties without dumping visible blocks onto exchanges, reducing immediate market impact and converting long-dormant supply into active liquidity. What’s notable: retail behavior hasn’t fully echoed the institutional outflows. Social channels are full of dip-buying calls, and Bitcoin’s price has remained resilient — hovering above $74,000 and briefly holding above $76,000 despite more than $1 billion in ETF-linked selling. That suggests demand has been available to absorb significant supply without a rapid breakdown. The core question Arkham poses — “If BlackRock is selling… who’s buying?” — encapsulates the current dynamic. Large, visible supply is on the move, but there’s still enough buyer appetite, including OTC counterparties and retail traders, to keep Bitcoin from collapsing under the pressure. How long that balance holds will likely determine the next directional move for price and flows.
BlackRock Sells $1B in Bitcoin via ETF Redemptions as Outflows Hit $1.26B
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Summary
BlackRock-linked wallets sold $1.01 billion in Bitcoin over five days in late May, mostly via Coinbase Prime, as ETF outflows for the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) accelerated. The fund’s holdings fell below $67 billion in under three weeks from $75.5 billion. U.S. spot-Bitcoin ETFs saw $1.26 billion in net outflows from May 18–22, reversing inflows/outflows of $1.97 billion in April. A Satoshi-era miner moved 2,650 BTC ($203 million) to OTC desks, signaling major liquidity shifts. Bitcoin held above $74,000 as retail and OTC buyers absorbed the supply.
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