TL;DR
- BlackRock transferred $160M in Bitcoin and Ethereum to Coinbase Prime.
- The market is down amid geopolitical tensions and new tariff fears.
- Bitcoin ETFs saw $3.8 billion in outflows last week alone.
BlackRock transferred approximately 1,800 Bitcoin and 24,000 Ethereum to Coinbase Prime in the early hours of February 24, 2026. On-chain data from Arkham Intelligence confirmed the move, which carries a combined value of roughly $160 million. The timing raised immediate questions across crypto markets already reeling from a $140 billion wipeout in total market capitalization between February 22 and 24.
Bitcoin traded near $62,926 at the time of the transfer, down 5% in 24 hours and approaching its lowest levels of 2026. Ethereum fared no better, dropping 5.67% in a single day to $1,814. Both assets sit at levels that erased months of gains, and BlackRock’s wallet activity arrived at precisely the moment when institutional confidence appeared most fragile.
The firm may need to move assets there to cover investor redemptions from its exchange-traded funds, or to manage portfolio positions through a centralized trading desk. Still, transfers of this size to an active trading venue rarely go unnoticed, and market participants responded with caution.
ETF Outflows Add Pressure to an Already Stressed Market
BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF recorded inflows on only one day since February 10. Over the two weeks leading up to the transfer, roughly 9,800 BTC worth $660 million exited the fund. The iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) saw outflows of $215 million and 121,000 ETH during the same period. Together, nearly $900 million in assets left both products in a span of 14 days.
Earlier in February, BlackRock already moved approximately $10 billion worth of crypto holdings, making the February 24 transfer part of a broader pattern rather than an isolated event. The scale and frequency of these moves put the firm at the center of discussions about institutional selling pressure.
Riya Sehgal, Research Analyst at Delta Exchange, noted that Bitcoin remains capped below the $66,000–$67,000 resistance band with key support near $62,000. A break below that floor would expose the asset to further downside.
Nischal Shetty, founder of WazirX, pointed to approximately $500 million in long liquidations on crypto derivatives platforms, driven by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and weakening macro sentiment.
Solana fell 1.05%, Dogecoin dropped 1.07%, and Bitcoin Cash led the losses with a 10.37% decline in 24 hours. Stablecoins held their ground, with Tether and USDC both ticking up marginally.
What makes the BlackRock transfer consequential is not just its size but what it signals about the relationship between traditional finance and digital assets. When a firm managing trillions of dollars in assets shifts $160 million in crypto to an exchange during a period of heavy ETF outflows and falling prices, the market reads it as a potential precursor to selling. Whether BlackRock executes those sales or simply repositions for operational reasons, the movement alone adds a layer of uncertainty to markets already operating under stress.
