BlackRock Hints at a Big Sell-Off As $27B In Crypto Options Expire

In a recent crypto news, the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, has hinted at another big sell-off after transferring Bitcoin and Ethereum to the crypto exchange Coinbase. This development comes just as over $27 billion in crypto options expire, with the market already witnessing another downtrend today.

Crypto News: BlackRock Deposits Bitcoin and Ethereum Into Coinbase

Arkham data shows the asset manager deposited 1,044 BTC ($91.9 million) and 7,557 ETH ($22.41 million) into Coinbase, likely to offload these coins. This comes as the crypto ETFs continue to record significant outflows.

CoinGape reported earlier this week that BlackRock deposited 2,292 BTC and 9,976 ETH, both worth over $200 million, into Coinbase following the $198 million and $96 million outflows from the Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, respectively. This latest crypto news follows the outflows that these funds recorded on December 24.

SoSoValue data shows that the Bitcoin ETFs recorded a daily net outflow of $175 million on December 14, with BlackRock’s IBIT leading the way with an outflow of $91.37 million. The Ethereum ETFs recorded a daily net outflow of $53 million, with $22.25 million leaving BlackRock’s ETHA fund.

BlackRock’s transfer of Bitcoin and Ethereum to Coinbase comes as over $27 billion in BTC, ETH, SOL, and XRP options expire today. This is another piece of crypto news that could spark significant market volatility today.

CoinGape reported that analysts are bearish on BTC despite the slight rebound, considering that the flagship crypto has retraced every pump this month. Analyst Caleb Franzen suggested that market participants should keep an eye on the 200-day moving average on the 4-hour chart, which continues to act as resistance.

Market Continues Trend Of Dumping On U.S. Market Open

In another crypto news, the crypto market has continued its trend of dumping once the U.S. market opens, in what market commentator Zerohedge describes as the ’10am slam.’ Notably, the BTC price had climbed to an intraday high above $89,000 prior to when the market opened, but is now trading around $87,000.

Market analyst Ted Pillows also suggested that Binance whales are contributing to the selling pressure that Bitcoin and other crypto assets are currently facing. “Binance whales are absolutely hammering the BTC sell button. They are now back to their usual business,” he said in an X post.

In another post, he stated that Bitcoin currently has two decent liquidation clusters. Ted Pillows revealed that on the upside, there is a great amount of short liquidations sitting around the $91,000 level. On the downside, the analyst noted a decent liquidity cluster around the $86,000 level. Based on this, he predicted that a sweep of upside liquidity could happen before trapping the longs.