$1.26B IBIT Block Trade Sparks 2.8% Bitcoin Slide

- Whale sold BlackRock Bitcoin ETF shares $1.01 below market via urgent dark pool deal - Bitcoin price dropped 2.8% as U.S. Bitcoin ETFs logged 11 consecutive days of net outflows 2026-06-01 On June 1, 2026, Cointelegraph reported that an anonymous investor quickly sold $1.26 billion worth of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) shares in a block trade through a dark pool, accepting $1.01 less than the prevailing market price to exit rapidly. This move fueled speculation about the seller’s motives and signaled a strong desire for immediate liquidity. As a result, this urgent transaction coincided with a 2.8% fall in Bitcoin’s price and extended the streak to 11 straight days of net outflows from U.S.-listed Bitcoin ETFs, according to Farside Investors. According to Cointelegraph on June 1, 2026, NYDIG head of research Greg Cipolaro described the deal as “consistent with a large directional holder exiting a concentrated position,” rather than a standard redemption or basis-trade unwind. The reported structure of the trade, and the seller’s willingness to forgo approximately $29.5 million in execution premium for immediate liquidity, suggested urgency and deliberate action by a sophisticated player, and analysts therefore viewed it as a targeted move rather than routine portfolio rebalancing. In addition, analysts attributed the swift move and discounted sale price to declining technical conditions and persistent ETF outflows, although the seller’s specific rationale remains unclear. As of 13:09 UTC on June 1, 2026, Bitcoin (BTC) was trading at $71,913.37, down 2.56% in the last 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap.