BlackRock Bitcoin, Ether ETFs Buy the Dip Amid 5% Price Correction

Key points:

  • BlackRockโ€™s Bitcoin and Ether ETFs bought over $1 billion on Thursday while prices tanked 5% or more.

  • Institutions are interested in โ€œbuying the dipโ€ on both assets, a reaction says.

  • Bitcoin has almost filled its latest CME futures gap with a trip to near $17,200.

Bitcoin (BTC) hovered at $119,000 into Fridayโ€™s Wall Street open as attention focused on institutional buyers.

BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

BlackRock buys the dip as liquidations pass $500 million

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD protecting the daily open as support.

A double hit of hot US Producer Price Index (PPI) inflation and mixed signals on the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sparked a swift 5% BTC price retreat the day prior, with lows near $117,200.

Data from monitoring resource CoinGlass showed crypto liquidations over 24 hours nearing $1 billion.

Crypto hourly liquidations (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass

While longs unwound, however, buyer interest from one source in particular remained conspicuous.

BlackRockโ€™s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), the largest of the US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), added over $500 million in BTC on Thursday. Its Ether (ETH) equivalent added a similar amount, bucking the short-term price rout.

US Bitcoin, spot Ether ETF netflows (screenshot). Source: Farside Investors

The moves did not go unnoticed by the crypto trading community, with popular trader BitBull identifying institutionsโ€™ desire to โ€œbuy the dip.โ€

โ€œBlackRock went all in $BTC and $ETH yesterday,โ€ he summarized in part of a post on X alongside data from crypto intelligence firm Arkham.

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas added that Thursdayโ€™s combined trade volumes for the BTC and ETH spot ETFs totaled $11.5 billion.

โ€œFor context thatโ€™s about the same volume as Apple stock,โ€ he told X followers.

Bitcoin eats away at $117,000 CME Gap

Further optimism came from Bitcoinโ€™s latest local bottom.

Related: Coinbase says a โ€˜full-scale altcoin seasonโ€™ may be just ahead

In dipping to $117,200, crypto investor and entrepreneur Ted Pillows, among others, noted that BTC/USD had mostly filled the latest weekend gap in CME Groupโ€™sย Bitcoin futures market.

โ€œNow I think that the worst is in for BTC and a new rally will start,โ€ he predicted.

As Cointelegraph reported, $117,200 was already on the radar as a significant level for a resistance/support flip.

โ€œBitcoin recovering well from that post-PPI panic,โ€ fellow trader Jelle continued.ย 

โ€œPrice held the support level – the CME gap filled for 75%, price is now back above the 4h 50EMA. $120,000 remains the area to turn into support, once that’s done -> price discovery is next.โ€

BTC/USD chart. Source: Jelle/X

Daan Crypto Trades, meanwhile, suggested that the gap โ€œcan be a good level to keep an eye on in case price does decide to do one more drive lower to take out those lows.โ€

CME Bitcoin futures one-hour chart. Source: Daan Crypto Trades/X

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.