Did a Hedge Fund’s IBIT Trades Trigger The Crypto Selloff? One Analyst Thinks So

BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF saw record trading, with one analyst suggesting the move may be linked to an alleged large institutional sale.

• BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF recorded its highest-ever trading day, with $10.7 billion in volume and about $900 million in options premiums.
• Market watchers said the selling may have been driven by an alleged large institutional sale rather than broad-based crypto market pressure.
• The episode shows how Bitcoin ETF options trading is becoming a major part of institutional crypto activity, even as the exact cause remains unconfirmed.

Heavy trading in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) on Thursday was linked to an alleged large institutional sale rather than the drop in Bitcoin’s (BTC) price to around $60,000.

Parker, a market watcher, noted that IBIT saw its highest trading volume ever, with about $10.7 billion traded in a single day. He added that around $900 million in options premiums were traded the same day, marking a record high for IBIT.

Parker pointed out that the size of trading activity, along with relatively low liquidations on centralized crypto exchanges, suggested the selling did not come from regular crypto traders. Instead, he said that it may be tied to a large holder, possibly “a hedge fund trading IBIT options is the culprit.”

Market Signals Point To A Single Source Of Selling

He pointed out that Bitcoin (BTC) and Solana (SOL) fell at the same time during the session. Likely, the selling pressure did not come from regular crypto traders using leverage on exchanges, since Bitcoin and Solana fell at the same time in a way that was not typical, and there were fewer forced liquidations on centralized crypto exchanges than you would expect for a move of that size.

Parker theorized that IBIT has become a key market for Bitcoin options. Public 13F filings show that some funds hold very large positions in the ETF, including single-asset funds set up to limit risk. He added that the claims are not confirmed and that clearer evidence on the matter would likely come from future 13F filings. These disclosures may not appear until mid-May due to reporting rules. Under current SEC rules, institutional investment managers are required to file Form 13F within 45 days after the end of each quarter, delaying public disclosure of position changes.

SoSoValue data shows that the Bitcoin spot ETF had a total net outflow of $434.15 million on Thursday. Yesterday, BlackRock's Bitcoin Spot ETF had the highest net outflow of Bitcoin Spot ETFs, with a daily net outflow of $175.33 million. The total historical net inflow of IBIT is now $61.61 billion. 

iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) was trading at $37.27, up 3.24% in pre-market hours. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around IBIT improved from ‘bullish’ to ‘extremely bullish’ zone, as chatter remained at ‘extremely high’ levels over the past day. Bitcoin (BTC) was trading at $65,941, down by 7.9% in the last 24 hours. On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment around Bitcoin remained in the ‘extremely bearish’ territory, with chatter at ‘extremely high’ levels over the past day.

Other Analysts Share Similar Views

Another market watcher, Zcasho, shared a similar view. He posted that the Bitcoin drop looked like forced selling rather than a normal market pullback. He pointed to IBIT’s record trading day and said the move may have been caused by a single large sale linked to a leveraged options trade. He added that once the market understands this was likely a one-off event, prices could steady or even recover. The activity comes as Nasdaq ISE filed a proposal with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to expand options trading limits for IBIT that would reflect growing institutional interest in Bitcoin-linked products.

In a similar vein, Bloomberg’s Senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas pointed out that while Bitcoin's price is down over 48% from the “Oct high but the amount of btc held by the ETFs is only down 6.6%.”

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com<