Bitcoin Drops Below $73,000 as BlackRock's BIT Records Second-Largest Outflow

BlockBeats News, May 28th, Bitcoin fell below $73,000 during Thursday's early trading session as the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF saw its largest single-day net outflow since late January, with BlackRock's IBIT recording the second-largest daily outflow in history.

The market data shows that Bitcoin fell 3.6% in the past 24 hours to around $72,842, Ethereum dropped 4.8% to $1,974, and other major cryptocurrencies also experienced a general downturn. Nick Ruck, Director of LVRG Research, stated that this sharp decline reflects profit-taking after recent highs, rising U.S. bond yields, and widespread macroeconomic caution amid geopolitical news.

Data shows that the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF recorded a total net outflow of $733.4 million on Wednesday, the largest since January 29th. Among them, BlackRock's IBIT saw a net outflow of $527.8 million, marking its second-highest outflow ever; Grayscale's GBTC saw an outflow of $104.8 million, while the other four ETFs also experienced negative outflows. Only Morgan Stanley's MSBT recorded a net inflow of $4.3 million.

Analysts pointed out that the capital outflow was driven by basis trading unwinds and institutional derisking operations, with the previous day's block trades also affecting IBIT's outflows. Peter Chung, Research Director at Presto Research, stated that Bitcoin has underperformed the S&P 500 and Nasdaq since mid-May, with this weak trend largely weighed down by spot ETF outflows.

Traders are closely monitoring the trend of ETF fund flows and Bitcoin's support around $70,000, warning that continued outflows may indicate institutions are further adjusting their cryptocurrency allocations. On a macro level, a new round of U.S.-Iran strikes is testing a fragile ceasefire agreement, leading to a broadly lower opening in Asian stock markets on Thursday.