Bitcoin’s recent drop coincides with $1.3B ‘dark pool’ ETF sale: Analyst

Galaxy Digital’s Alex Thorn says a $1.3 billion sale of BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF was the largest he has seen on a dark pool, or private trading platform.

An unknown trader’s $1.3 billion sale of shares in BlackRock’s Bitcoin exchange-traded fund on Tuesday has coincided with a steep fall in the price of Bitcoin immediately after the sale, according to analysts.

A trader sold 29.2 million shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) at 2:30 pm UTC on a “dark pool,” a private trading platform that institutions often use to discreetly make large trades outside of public markets.

The impact of the $1.3 billion trade was immediately felt in the crypto market, with TradingView data showing that Bitcoin (BTC) fell 1.5% from $77,875 to $76,720 in a short 10-minute window after 2:30 pm UTC.

Read more