Key Insights:
- BlackRock moved 2,196 BTC worth $202.76 million, causing Bitcoin price to drop to $91K level.
- The transfer ahead of the FOMC rate decision sparked concerns.
- BTC price has tumbled nearly 2% over the past 24 hours.
Bitcoin price saw an almost 1% pullback as BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, moved 2,196 BTC to a crypto exchange on Wednesday.
This shows a negative outlook for Bitcoin among institutional and retail investors, sparking concerns as outflow comes just before today’s Fed rate decision.
BlackRock Moves Bitcoin Holdings to Coinbase Ahead of Fed Rate Decision
According to on-chain platform Lookonchain, BlackRock transferred another 2,196 BTC to Coinbase crypto exchange. The transfers sparked concerns in the crypto market.
The transfer worth $202.76 million has occurred just ahead of the interest rate decision by the US Federal Reserve. As a result, Bitcoin price has slipped below $92K.
According to Farside Investors data, BlackRock Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) recorded $135.4 million in outflows on Thursday. Notably, BlackRock was the only one to record outflows.
This indicates bearish sentiment for Bitcoin among institutional and retail investors investing in spot Bitcoin ETFs. Typically, large transfers to centralized exchanges like Coinbase signal selling activity.
As The Coin Republic reported earlier, BlackRock and SpaceX moved 1,385 BTC and 1,083 BTC to Coinbase. The latest transaction is even larger than BlackRock’s previous BTC transfer.
Markets Expect 25 Bps Fed Rate Cut Today
The US Federal Reserve is set to announce a 25 bps rate cut, as per the latest Fed officials’ comments and macroeconomic data.
At the time of writing, the CME FedWatch tool showed 90% odds of a Fed rate cut by 25 bps. This would bring the federal rate to 3.50%-3.75%.
However, Matrixport predicts Bitcoin will move in a range-bound pattern until December-end. The diminishing implied volatility signals a consolidation in Bitcoin and the broader crypto market during the holiday period.
According to a CryptoQuant analysis, Bitcoin rebound would struggle to sustain momentum as derivatives signal weakness. BTC price upside has diverged from open interest, with a significant decline in trading volume.
Traders need to keep an eye on Jerome Powell’s speech for cues on market direction. The monetary policy outlook for 2026 is key to driving a strong recovery in Bitcoin’s price towards $100K.
Bitcoin Price Slips Amid the US FOMC Jitters
Following the transaction of BlackRock dumping another 2,196 BTC, Bitcoin price has slipped under $92K to stir panic of a revisit to $88K.
Crypto analyst Ted Pillows pointed out that BTC has dumped after the last four FOMC meetings. The last one resulted in a 30% fall as Jerome Powell turned hawkish.
At the time of writing, the price of BTC was trading $92,003, with a 24-hour low and high of $91,815 and $94,601, respectively. Trading volume has climbed by almost 20% over the last 24 hours.
CoinGlass data showed selling in the derivatives market. At the time of writing, the total BTC futures open interest fell 0.30% to $58.95 billion in the last 4 hours.