BlackRock-tagged wallets moved roughly $1 billion worth of Bitcoin off their balances over the past week, according to Arkham data circulated by Cointelegraph on May 25, 2026. The flow lines up with a six-day net redemption streak on the firm's spot Bitcoin ETF, IBIT, that has pushed 2026 to the edge of going net negative on cumulative inflows.
Bitcoin traded at $77,455 as of May 25, up 0.55% on the day and 0.86% on the week, holding firm despite the issuer-side selling. The Fear and Greed index sits at 41, in neutral territory, suggesting the market is absorbing the supply rather than panicking on it.
Inside the wallet data
Arkham's onchain labels track wallets attributed to BlackRock's custody arrangement with Coinbase Custody. A reduction of $1 billion in those wallets over a week is consistent with IBIT processing creations and redemptions in kind: when authorized participants redeem shares, the underlying Bitcoin leaves the ETF custody address. It is not a discretionary sell from BlackRock's treasury. It is the mechanical outcome of net outflows on the fund.
That distinction matters. BlackRock is not bearish on Bitcoin. The issuer is passing through the decisions of institutional and retail holders who are pulling shares of IBIT. The Cointelegraph thread cited Arkham directly, and the underlying flow data has been visible on the explorer all week.
Six straight outflow days
IBIT and the other US spot Bitcoin ETFs have logged six consecutive sessions of net outflows, a streak we covered earlier this week in our Bitcoin ETF outflow tracker. Cumulative 2026 inflows into the spot Bitcoin ETF complex are now within striking distance of zero. If the trend continues into next week, the year flips net negative for the first time since the products launched in January 2024.
BlackRock's IBIT is the dominant fund in the category by assets and turnover, so its outflows mechanically drive the headline number. A $1 billion week of redemptions at the BlackRock level is roughly the right magnitude to match the published net flow figures.
The hard-money trade is on the back foot
The selling lands while the broader hard-money thesis collides with 5% Treasury yields and the Fed's April minutes have shifted the rate-cut trade into hike-risk territory. Institutional allocators rotating out of Bitcoin ETFs are not necessarily selling Bitcoin spot. Some are moving into Treasuries paying real yield, some into single-name alt ETFs that have drawn capital recently, and some are simply taking risk off into the long US weekend.
For context, alt ETFs pulled in fresh capital on May 21 even as IBIT bled, a divergence we tracked in our ETF rotation note. The pattern is consistent with rotation rather than wholesale crypto exit.
Price action does not match the flows
The interesting tension is that Bitcoin has barely moved. $77,455 is roughly flat on the week despite an issuer dumping a billion dollars of supply into the market. That implies either real demand on the other side, OTC desks absorbing the flow off-screen, or short covering masking the spot pressure.
A Satoshi-era miner moved 2,650 BTC to FalconX and Cumberland this week, which we covered in our OTC deposit note. Those flows tend to clear off the exchange order books, which can mask their price impact. The same dynamic applies to IBIT redemptions when authorized participants unwind through institutional venues rather than retail-facing exchanges.
Read for crypto card users
If you hold crypto card balances denominated in BTC or stablecoins, this week's flow data is a reminder that issuer-level supply does not automatically translate to price collapse. Spending discipline matters more than the headline outflow number. Cards that convert to fiat at swipe time, like most mainstream Visa and Mastercard products, settle at the prevailing market rate. If your card pulls from a self-custody wallet via a self-custody spending route, you carry the full price exposure between top-up and swipe.
For users on staking-based cards with tier requirements pegged in fiat, a sideways week in BTC at $77,000 is more comfortable than the volatility implied by $1B of wholesale supply hitting the tape.
Overview
Arkham data shows roughly $1 billion in Bitcoin moved off BlackRock-tagged wallets last week, lining up with a six-day net outflow streak at IBIT. The flow reflects redemption mechanics rather than discretionary issuer selling. Bitcoin held $77,455 through the week, indicating that other buyers, including OTC desks and rotation buyers, are absorbing the supply. If the outflow streak extends into next week, 2026 spot Bitcoin ETF flows go net negative for the first time.
