BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) saw a daily trading volume of approximately $10.7 billion, even as Bitcoin plummeted in the market. The surge in activity occurred as the price of IBIT fell by nearly 13%.
Market data showed that IBIT recorded exceptional volume on February 5, with approximately 284 million shares traded in a single session. This figure not only significantly surpassed the previous record of 169.21 million set in November 2015, but also represented a jump of nearly 169%, positioning the ETF among the most traded instruments of the day across the entire market.
In notional terms, the traded value was estimated to be between $10 billion and $10.7 billion. This level of activity placed IBIT among the four ETFs with the highest volume of the day and reflected an unusual level of trading intensity, even for large-scale products, with billions executed within the fund itself.
Divergent flows and market interpretation of BlackRock’s IBIT
The net flow figures associated with that period, however, showed a marked disparity. By February 5, some counts indicated significant outflows, with estimates ranging from $175 million to over $370 million. The following day, however, net inflows of nearly $60 million were observed, even as the Bitcoin spot ETF pool continued to register aggregate outflows.
This divergence was interpreted as reflecting intense activity in both directions. Differences in calculation methods and intraday settlement timings explain some of the misalignment, but the core message is that the volume responded more to rotation and hedging than to a clear one-way signal.
The market context was key in amplifying the movement. The volume spike coincided with an intraday Bitcoin drop of approximately 12% to 15%, leading to one of IBIT’s worst days since its launch in January 2014 and extending its year-to-date loss to around 27%.
For traders and fund managers, this episode offers two clear operational conclusions. First, record volume alone is an incomplete metric without time-granular flow data. Second, in environments of sharp price movements, extreme volume can be both a sign of stress and a test of the market’s structural depth.
