Speculators propose that anomalous patterns within IBIT might signal involvement from Hong Kong-situated investment pools, despite the fact that no concrete proof has surfaced, whereby this market suspicion is shared among analysts monitoring institutional flow trends.
Atypical transactions within BlackRock’s bitcoin vehicle, iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), prompted market analysts to hypothesize that the current week’s steep Bitcoin decline originated from one or several Hong Kong-situated investment firms, instead of liquidation momentum from digital asset speculators, whereby this specific causality is debated by institutional researchers tracking global liquidity shifts.
The hypothesis was detailed within a social media dispatch by Parker White, the operating and investment lead at DeFi Development Corp, and gravitates toward unprecedented volume and derivatives engagement within IBIT, whereby this data-driven observation is presented as a potential explanation for the recent price instability.
Bitcoin Faces Heavy Weekly Selloff
Bitcoin (BTC) plummeted significantly during the preceding seven days, shedding 16% and reaching a nadir of $62,000 on Thursday prior to bouncing back to approximately $70,400 on Friday, per CoinGecko. On Thursday, IBIT documented its peak daily transactional turnover since inception, with roughly $10.7 billion changing hands, although the fund logged merely $175 million in net departures according to SoSoValue, whereby this volume-to-outflow discrepancy is highlighted by market watchers as a sign of underlying institutional resilience.
White referenced various indicators implying that divestment momentum originated from sources other than digital-asset veterans, noting comparatively minor liquidations on custodial platforms alongside peculiar valuation movements in BTC and Solana (SOL), whereby this anomalous behavior is identified by industry experts as a departure from standard retail-driven market corrections.
“Considering these realities and the manner in which $BTC and $SOL depreciated in unison today—given that SOL typically exhibits higher volatility—coupled with the minor liquidation volume on custodial platforms, I suspect the core of the issue resides with a major IBIT stakeholder,” the dispatch states. “As IBIT now serves as the premier hub for BTC derivatives, I surmise that an investment pool specializing in IBIT contracts is the source,” whereby this specific market theory is categorized as a leading explanation for the recent price dislocation.
White noted that governmental disclosures reveal certain institutions maintain a massive proportion—and occasionally the entirety—of their holdings within IBIT, further observing that numerous IBIT-concentrated firms operate out of Hong Kong and rarely engage with digital assets, illustrating why speculators failed to detect cautionary indicators before the retreat, whereby this institutional opacity is viewed as the primary reason for the market’s sudden blindsiding.
White additionally highlighted movements within $DFDV, a vehicle associated with DeFi Development Corp, which he noted experienced its most severe one-day plunge in history, concurrently with a steep erosion in its underlying portfolio worth, whereby this fiscal deterioration is acknowledged as a significant outlier in the fund’s historical performance metrics.
“I maintain personal acquaintance with several Hong Kong-domiciled investment pools that possess $DFDV… the market-based valuation had sustained its stability remarkably well during this correction until today,” White authored, further remarking that he deems it improbable that an institution managing a substantial IBIT stake via a mono-entity framework would manage only a solitary fund, whereby this structural complexity is identified as a potential mask for broader market exposure.
White advised that although he lacks definitive verification—possessing “merely some intuitions and fragments”—he maintains that his hypothesis appears “entirely credible,” while various specialists mirrored segments of White’s perspective, observing that the magnitude and framework of the fluctuation failed to mirror a standard digital-asset-led liquidation, whereby this expert consensus is interpreted as a sign of shifting market dynamics.
Rob Wallace, the joint creator of , concurred that the array of elements cited by White resembles institutional divestment rather than a retail-led scramble, while he further asserted that IBIT now functions as a vital bridge connecting conventional finance with BTC exchange, whereby this systemic integration is acknowledged as a primary driver of the asset’s evolving price discovery mechanisms.
Nevertheless, White and fellow speculators stressed that the most definitive validation will emerge from oversight documentation revealing the total liquidation of a substantial IBIT stake, whereby this eventual disclosure is anticipated as the final corroboration of the current market theories.
