BlackRock has officially ended its silence.
After a period of strategic inactivity, the world’s largest asset manager has re‑entered the market, beginning a high‑conviction accumulation phase.
On-chain data from Lookonchain reveals that over the last 72 hours, BlackRock has absorbed nearly $1 billion in digital assets. The firm transferred 9,619 BTC valued at $878 million and 46,851 ETH worth $149 million into its custody.
This three-day blitz signals a decisive pivot from the choppy outflows of late 2025 into a concentrated ‘ETF 2.0’ era for 2026.
From silence to accumulation
To understand why BlackRock goes through long periods of flatlining followed by massive spikes, let’s view the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) as a global liquidity grocery store.
During mute weeks, the store isn’t empty; it’s simply operating off the inventory kept in the backroom.
In technical terms, this is the secondary market buffer.
Authorized Participants (APs) often hold a surplus of shares or Bitcoin [BTC], allowing them to satisfy buy orders without the ETF ever needing to interact with the underlying spot market.
To the outside observer, BlackRock appears inactive.
But, in reality, the backroom supply is being quietly absorbed by investors. This is when the accumulation week triggers as the shelves run bare.
When internal liquidity is exhausted or when quarterly rebalancing cycles converge, BlackRock is forced to enter the spot market to restock.
This creates the massive green bars we see in the data, not necessarily representing a sudden change in sentiment, but the visible fulfillment of weeks of pent-up institutional demand.
Needless to say, BlackRock’s Ethereum ETF also falls into the same analysis.
BlackRock’s ETF analysis and more
This comes at a time when, after a surge of optimism kicked off 2026, the market has hit a technical speed bump.
Despite the three-day accumulation streak, BlackRock’s IBIT recorded outflows worth $130 million, cooling off from the inflows seen in the first week of the New Year.
Similarly, BlackRock’s ETHA also saw $6.6 million in outflows this week, following a strong opening week.
Price floors and supply shocks
Meanwhile, at the time of writing, the market was feeling the weight of this consolidation.
Bitcoin was trading at $90,245.14, down by 2.41% in 24 hours, while Ethereum [ETH] has slipped to $3,118.03, a 4.99% drop during the same period.
When such movements happen, these prices typically move sideways. The lack of aggressive selling from institutional giants prevents a total collapse, stabilizing the market at these higher valuations.
For traders, this is the calm before the shock.
History also shows that once BlackRock finishes this quiet accumulation, the resulting supply squeeze is often what pushes Bitcoin through major resistance levels, like the current $94,500 barrier.
Final Thoughts
- Nearly $1 billion in BTC and ETH pulled off exchanges in 72 hours signals tightening liquidity and the early stages of a potential supply squeeze.
- If this accumulation trend continues, Bitcoin’s $94,500 resistance could be less of a ceiling and more of a prelude to the next upward leg.
Source: https://ambcrypto.com/why-blackrocks-1b-crypto-bet-could-shape-markets-in-2026/
