BlackRock 's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) set a new single-day trading volume record on Thursday, with a total of $10 billion worth of shares changing hands. However, this massive volume was not the result of enthusiastic market buying, but rather a microcosm of panic selling—IBIT plunged 13% that day, marking the second-worst single-day drop since its inception, second only to the 15% crash on May 8, 2024.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said that IBIT "completely broke the record for single-day trading volume," but he also pointed out that massive trading volumes are often accompanied by extreme fear, representing a large number of investors choosing to flee at the same time.
All average-price investors "drowned".
Even more worrying is that Bob Elliott, chief investment officer of Unlimited Funds, pointed out that as of Friday's close, "every dollar invested in IBIT is now at a loss."
This means that whether it's institutional investors who entered the market early or retail investors who chased the rally later, the vast majority of holders are now trapped in a losing position. IBIT has plummeted from its October high of nearly $70 to $36.10 at Thursday's close, a drop of nearly 48%, almost halved.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin itself has also suffered a dramatic decline. It fell 12% in the past 24 hours, briefly hitting a low of $60,300 before stabilizing at around $64,000, a drop of nearly 50% from its all-time high of around $126,000 in early October.
Continued outflows erode institutional confidence.
As for who the winners of this market rally are, it's probably institutional traders, because institutions earn transaction fees regardless of whether the market goes up or down.
However, looking at the investment side, data shows that IBIT experienced a net outflow of $373.4 million on Wednesday. More noteworthy is that since the beginning of 2026, IBIT has only recorded net inflows on 10 trading days. Since the market crash in October, this largest Bitcoin spot ETF in the world has been facing continuous redemption pressure, and institutional investor confidence is systematically eroding.
This contrasts sharply with the situation in 2025, when IBIT was the only loss-making fund among the world's top 15 ETFs and had already begun to show signs of weakness, and now the situation has worsened further.
Analysts: "Organized selling pressure" is underway.
Veteran trader Peter Brandt warned of a market downturn, saying that Bitcoin's current price action is characterized by "organized selling" and there is little support from buyers.
Analysts generally attribute this round of volatility to two main factors:
- Weak U.S. employment data has dampened market confidence in the economic outlook.
- A large influx of capital into the artificial intelligence field has created a "siphoning effect" on the crypto market, accelerating capital outflow.
Investors must be aware that institutional funds are systematically withdrawing from Bitcoin, and with a lack of new buying support in the market, even massive trading volumes indicate more panic than buy the dips. For investors, the downside risk of the market should not be ignored until selling pressure is fully released.
