Institutional Money Retreats as BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF Faces Its Sharpest Pullback Since Launch

BlackRock’s flagship Bitcoin fund is entering its most intense withdrawal phase yet, with more than $2.7 billion leaving the product over the past five weeks. The exodus marks a decisive shift in institutional positioning as the year draws to a close and professional investors scale back risk.

The iShares Bitcoin Trust, which swelled into a seventy-one-billion-dollar titan during Bitcoin’s surge to record levels, has recorded outflows for five consecutive weeks through November 28, according to Bloomberg data. Another one hundred thirteen million dollars left the fund on Thursday, signaling that a sixth week of withdrawals is almost certain and setting up the longest red streak since the ETF debuted in early 2024.

The reversal reflects the broader unwinding that has gripped the crypto market since the dramatic October liquidation. The wipeout, driven by leveraged positions collapsing across major trading venues, erased more than a trillion dollars in digital-asset value and forced Bitcoin into a confirmed bear cycle. IBIT, which had been the dominant gateway for institutional inflows earlier in the year, is now experiencing the opposite dynamic as asset managers trim allocations heading into bonus season and brace for a more uncertain macro environment.

This week’s recovery has lifted Bitcoin back into the low ninety-two-thousand-dollar range, but the improvement in price has not translated into positive flows. Analysts argue that the flow data carries more weight than the day-to-day price rebound because it reflects how much new capital is entering the system. Research firm Glassnode described the recent trend as a clear departure from the steady accumulation phase that supported Bitcoin’s climb into October, framing the current period as a slowdown in fresh investment rather than a sign of deep structural withdrawal.

Bitcoin is still trading nearly twenty-seven percent below its peak from early October. As the market searches for its next direction, the flow patterns of IBIT have become an increasingly important barometer for assessing U.S. demand and institutional conviction.