With the crypto market consistently trading in deep reds and sparking fear that the market has already entered its bear phase, BlackRock has ignited more doubts with its recent move.
On Monday, November 17, data from on-chain monitoring firm Lookonchain shows that the leading asset management firm made another major deposit of 4,880 BTC and 54,730 ETH into Coinbase Prime.
Although the investment firm has not given any clarity about the motive behind such large moves, market watchers have speculated that it is an attempt to sell off its holdings.
According to the data provided by the tracker, BlackRock has transferred Bitcoin and Ethereum worth a combined total of over $642 million into a wallet on Coinbase Prime, hinting at a potential sell-off attempt.
Notably, the move is garnering more attention from market participants, as it has been observed that the once-aggressive Bitcoin and Ethereum accumulator has not made any notable crypto purchases in a while. Rather, BlackRock has only continued to move both assets in large quantities recently.
Is BlackRock panick-selling?
BlackRock’s latest crypto deposits, which appeared in multiple batches, have come at a time when market sentiment is shaky and price volatility is spiking across the board.
Over the past weeks, Bitcoin and Ethereum have continued to face severe price corrections amid the broad crypto market downturn.
After seeing a slight resurgence last Monday, the assets have rapidly returned to deep red territory, and Bitcoin has been bleeding heavily, sliding far below the key $100,000 support level.
While Bitcoin is currently hovering around $93,000, Ethereum has also had its share of high volatility, retesting the $3,100 level again.
With BlackRock consistently offloading its assets at a time like this, analysts have expressed confidence that the move is beyond a mere ETF rebalancing.
However, they believe it is a major sell signal that could push the concerned cryptocurrencies toward more losses, as it tends to trigger additional panic among retailers.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov
U.Today Editorial Team