Is BlackRock dumping? Millions in BTC and ETH on the move as ETF loses deepen

An ongoing portfolio shuffle by the asset manager and ETF issuer is pointing to signs of a looming sell-off.

On August 5, blockchain trackers spotlighted major transfers from wallets linked to BlackRock, showing 2,544 Bitcoin (BTC) and 101,975 Ethereum (ETH) deposited into Coinbase Prime. At the time of the deposits, the assets were worth around $292 million and $372 million, respectively.

While there’s no confirmation yet that the funds were sold, moving assets from cold storage to an exchange like Coinbase Prime is often seen as a step toward liquidation, marking a u-turn from the issuer’s months-long streak of purchases.

Why BlackRock might be selling

BlackRock’s latest BTC and ETH transfers come as redemptions from crypto exchange-traded funds continue to pile up. The 12 U.S.-listed Bitcoin ETFs, including BlackRock’s IBIT, have been on a heavy four-day outflow streak, shedding $1.5 billion collectively.

Ethereum ETFs are facing similar pressure, logging two days of outflows totaling around $600 million before ending their latest session with a modest $73.2 million in net inflows.

The outflows come alongside a broader pullback in crypto prices, suggesting profit-taking among institutional investors as both BTC and ETH fall from recent highs.

BTC, ETH dip as market posts red

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading just above $114,000, down about 0.39% on the day and 3.6% over the past week. Ethereum is seeing even deeper losses, presently trading around $3,625. The asset is down 1.4% on the day and nearly 5% on the week.

The slump in both BTC and ETH mirrors a broader market downturn. The total crypto market capitalization has slipped to $3.79 trillion, down 5.3% from its $4 trillion peak earlier this year, according to CoinGecko data.

Other major altcoins like Solana (SOL) and XRP (XRP) are also in the red, each down over 3% in the last 24 hours. Memecoins aren’t spared either, with tokens like Bonk (BONK), Pepe (PEPE), and Popcat (POPCAT) leading the sector’s losses with drops between 3% and 5%.

Meanwhile, the latest offloads from BlackRock represent just a fraction of its holdings. The asset manager sits on one of the largest Bitcoin and Ethereum stacks globally, still holding over 741,000 BTC and 3 million ETH, worth around $84.5 billion and $11 billion at current prices.