BlackRock's IBIT loses about $2 billion over nine straight outflow sessions

BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) recorded about $2 billion in withdrawals over nine consecutive trading sessions beginning October 30. Investors withdrew another $269.7 million from IBIT on Wednesday, extending the streak to nine sessions. IBIT, the largest U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund, has recorded withdrawals during every November trading session so far.

U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs recorded net withdrawals of $299.8 million on Wednesday, marking the group's fifth consecutive session of net outflows. The 11 funds have recorded about $1.44 billion in withdrawals across those five trading days. November's net withdrawals total roughly $1.88 billion, with outflows during seven of eight sessions. November 4 provided the only net inflow, at $74.6 million, despite $201.2 million leaving IBIT that day. IBIT's November withdrawals total about $1.77 billion, representing roughly 94% of the group's total.

Grayscale's GBTC recorded $39.1 million in withdrawals on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley's MSBT attracted about $9 million, making MSBT the only fund with an inflow that day. All remaining funds reported zero flows.

The current streak remains shorter than this year's longest runs without inflows. Both IBIT and the broader group went 13 consecutive trading sessions without inflows between May 15 and June 3, the longest outflow streaks of 2026. IBIT subsequently recorded an 11-session streak between June 17 and July 2. IBIT's largest daily withdrawals this year occurred on November 2, at $405.3 million, and November 6, at $403 million.

U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs now have about $1.42 billion in net outflows for 2026, against roughly $25.2 billion in net inflows at this point last year. The Australian Financial Review reported Thursday that the withdrawals had eliminated the funds' net inflows for this year. However, IBIT still has about $2.45 billion in net inflows for 2026. IBIT's cumulative net inflows since the January 2024 launch total roughly $64.5 billion. IBIT attracted about $932 million in October, an amount that November's withdrawals have already erased nearly twice over. BlackRock argued just days before the withdrawals that security concerns were prompting large bitcoin holders to move from self-custody into IBIT.

The withdrawals started before this week's most negative developments but have intensified alongside those developments. Tuesday's October inflation release exceeded expectations and increased expectations of a Federal Reserve interest-rate increase in December. Yahoo Finance reported that Polymarket's probability of a rate increase reached about 97%. Higher interest rates increase the relative appeal of cash and bonds compared with assets such as bitcoin.

Nvidia shares dropped roughly 9% after Wednesday's market close following reports that Nvidia's board was preparing to remove CEO Jensen Huang. Nvidia has announced no decision. Nasdaq 100 futures also declined alongside Nvidia shares. Bitcoin's trading has closely followed technology stocks this year.

MSCI confirmed after Wednesday's close that MSCI will exclude Strategy (MSTR) from MSCI indexes after November 30. The exclusion requires funds tracking those indexes to sell shares in Strategy, the largest corporate holder of bitcoin.

Bitcoin traded around $72,800 early Thursday, near Tuesday's approximately $72,700 low, the lowest price since August 20. Bitcoin has fallen roughly 6% over the past week. Thursday's ETF flow figures will become available after the market closes. Whether IBIT ends the withdrawal streak before matching the spring's 13-session run remains an open question. Continued withdrawals could keep putting downward pressure on bitcoin ahead of the Federal Reserve's December meeting.