$1.26B BlackRock IBIT Sale Was Rapid Exit, Not Basis Trade: NYDIG
In brief
- BlackRock IBIT block sale: 29.21 million shares sold May 26 at $43.16 per share
- Transaction executed at 2.3% discount to market price, costing seller ~$29.5 million
- NYDIG analysis ruled out basis-trade strategy, citing large discount and no CME futures activity
The Trade Details
The sale occurred on May 26 when 29.21 million IBIT shares traded off-exchange at $43.16 per share. The discount to the market price of $44.17 at the time represented a 2.3% concession, translating to roughly $29.5 million in execution costs for the seller. The trade was reported through the FINRA/Nasdaq TRF Carteret facility, commonly used for privately negotiated transactions.
The size of the position was striking. It represented exposure equivalent to roughly 3,700 CME bitcoin futures contracts, yet only 91 contracts traded during the minute the block was executed.
Why Not a Basis Trade?
NYDIG analysis suggests the sale was driven by a large investor seeking rapid exit from bitcoin exposure rather than unwinding a basis-trade hedge-fund strategy. The basis-trade explanation—where a fund shorts futures while holding spot bitcoin to lock in spread profits—would have been undermined by the 2.3% execution discount.
"The size of the trade, the 2.3% execution discount, the absence of corresponding CME futures activity, and the limited universe of potential sellers collectively weigh against the view that the transaction represented a contemporaneous basis-trade unwind," said Greg Cipolaro, NYDIG's global head of research.
Identifying the seller has proven difficult. The position exceeded the reported holdings of every disclosed IBIT investor in recent 13F filings, making attribution nearly impossible through public records.
Broader Redemption Pressure
The block sale occurred amid broader outflows from U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs. The funds recorded daily net outflows on every trading day from May 15 through May 29, with total assets falling from $107.75 billion on May 14 to $94.17 billion by May 29. IBIT itself recorded about $720 million in net redemptions across May 26 and May 27.
Bitcoin price weakness likely drove the redemptions. The asset fell 16% year-to-date, while most other assets such as equities and commodities surged as capital rotated away from crypto.
