Bitcoin falls below $73,000, BlackRock's IBIT sees record outflows

The cryptocurrency market saw a significant decline on Thursday morning, with Bitcoin dropping below $73,000. This round of decline was accompanied by the largest single-day net outflow from the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF since late January. Nick Ruck, director of LVRG Research, stated that this sharp drop reflects a risk-averse sentiment for profit-taking after recent highs, and is also influenced by rising U.S. Treasury yields and macroeconomic caution stemming from geopolitical news.

Analysts added that the market decline is mainly due to funds rotating into traditional financial stocks, and once key price levels are breached, a large number of derivatives liquidations further depressed prices. Data shows that the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF recorded a total net outflow of $733.4 million on Wednesday, marking the largest single-day outflow since January 29. Among them, BlackRock's IBIT saw a net outflow of $527.8 million, setting a record for the largest single-day outflow since the fund's inception. Additionally, other ETFs like Grayscale's GBTC also experienced negative outflows. Only Morgan Stanley's MSBT recorded a net inflow of $4.3 million.

Analysts believe that the outflow of funds is due to the closing of basis trades and institutional de-risking operations, while IBIT's record outflow was influenced by large trades the previous day. Peter Chung, head of research at Presto Research, pointed out that Bitcoin has exhibited a "unique trading pattern" since mid-May, continuing to decline over the past two weeks and underperforming risk assets like the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, primarily driven by outflows from the spot Bitcoin ETF.

Analysts are closely monitoring ETF fund flow trends and Bitcoin's support level around $70,000, warning that continued outflows may indicate that institutions are further adjusting their cryptocurrency asset allocations. On a macro level, Asian stock markets opened lower on Thursday, with the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index and Japan's Nikkei 225 both declining, due to renewed strikes by the U.S. against Iran amid a fragile ceasefire agreement.