BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) ETF has experienced its greatest outflow since its inception a year ago, signaling a watershed moment in the Bitcoin ETF industry.
The current outflow broke the previous record of $188.7 million, set on December 24, 2024.
Bitcoin ETF outflows hit $242 million as IBIT bleeds
According to SoSoValue statistics, the fund exited with a record $330.8 million on January 2, which equates to more over 3,500 Bitcoin. Following IBIT’s historic exodus, overall daily net outflows from BTC ETFs reached $242 million.
January 2 also marks IBIT’s third straight day of outflows, marking another new record. According to Farside Investors statistics, BlackRock’s Bitcoin Trust has had a $391 million outflow in only the last week.
At the same time, the Fidelity, Ark, and Bitwise BTC ETFs had net inflows of $36.2 million, $16.54 million, and $48.31 million on January 2.
The IBIT outflows occur after Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas stated in December that IBIT is the largest of all ETFs introduced. He claimed this as BlackRock outperformed all other ETFs in the world markets.
“IBIT’s growth is unprecedented. It’s the fastest ETF to reach most milestones, faster than any other ETF in any asset class. At the current asset level and an expense ratio of 0.25%, IBIT can expect to earn about $112 million a year,” claimed James Seyffart, another leading ETF analyst.
As of December 31, IBIT held around 551,000 BTC. Since the introduction of IBIT, BlackRock has purchased more than 2.38% of all Bitcoin that will ever exist.
BlackRock’s belief in Bitcoin was obvious when the company stated that it did not intend to introduce any new altcoin-focused ETFs, focusing solely on BTC and ETH.
In December, Jay Jacobs, the chairman of BlackRock’s ETF business, stated that the company intends to focus on increasing the reach of its current Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, which have done remarkably well thus far. Interestingly, BlackRock experts have indicated that Bitcoin should make up 1% to 2% of standard 60/40 investing portfolios.
Tether, TRON and TRM Labs freeze $100M worth of criminal crypto
The T3 Financial Crime Unit, a collaboration between Tether, TRON, and TRM Labs, has frozen more over $100 million in illegal assets.
The T3 Financial Crime Unit, or T3 FCU, was established in August 2024 and has quickly emerged as a model for public-private collaborations in blockchain security.
According to a Tether press release, the team works with law enforcement authorities throughout the world to detect and dismantle criminal networks engaged in money laundering, investment fraud, blackmail, and terrorism funding.
As digital assets become more widely used, regulators have long been concerned about these crimes.
“Criminals now have 100 million reasons to think twice before using TRON,” said Justin Sun, founder of the TRON blockchain. “T3 FCU’s rapid success in freezing criminal assets sends an unmistakable message: if you’re using USDT on TRON for crime, you will be caught.”
The T3 Financial Crime Unit (#T3FCU), a collaboration between #TRON, @Tether_to , and @trmlabs, has frozen more than USDT 100 million in criminal assets globally, passing a significant milestone in its fight against cryptocurrency-related financial crime.@CoinDesk… pic.twitter.com/iksHKkZtjJ
— TRON DAO (@trondao) January 2, 2025
T3 Financial Crime Unit
The T3 Financial Crime Unit was established to collaborate in combatting unlawful USDT activities on the TRON network. The T3 FCU analyzes millions of transactions on the TRON (TRX) blockchain across five continents.
In total, the T3 FCU has examined over $3 billion in USDT transactions. This thorough surveillance allows the unit to spot suspicious activity and freeze criminal assets in real time.
“By working closely with authorities across jurisdictions, Tether has been instrumental in freezing criminal assets and ensuring that bad actors do not exploit stablecoins like USDT,” Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said.
Cardano (ADA) price gears up for 300% rally in few weeks per this chart
Cardano’s price climb over $1.0 lays the foundation for a huge bull run, since the technical situation is comparable to the 300%+ ADA rally in 2021.
Cardano’s price has risen another 8%, surpassing $1.0 and increasing the ADA’s weekly advance to more than 16%. The technical setup for ADA suggests that the cryptocurrency is poised for a 300% gain in the next weeks, with a target price of $4.
Here’s why Cardano price can rally to $4
Cardano is outperforming its rivals throughout the larger market rebound, with a significant rise among the other leading cryptocurrencies. Crypto expert Ali Martinez sees comparisons between Cardano’s current price movement with its performance in the last market cycle, which spanned November 2020 to August 2021 and saw ADA undergo a massive bull rise.
Martinez predicts that if a similar breakthrough occurs, the price of ADA might rise to $4 in the next weeks.
Following Donald Trump’s victory, the cryptocurrency rallied threefold in a month, fueled by widespread enthusiasm in the altcoin market. Market researchers anticipate that by 2025, the cryptocurrency market value will have increased by approximately 5x to $7 trillion. Thus, this 300% increase will not come as a surprise in that circumstances.
ADA’s price today went up 8.07% to $1.01, with a market capitalization of $35.63 billion. In addition, daily trading volume has increased by 5% to $1.26, indicating the possibility of a prolonged gain in the near future. According to Coinglass statistics, ADA open interest is up 7% to $781 million. In addition, when Cardano prices rose, 24-hour liquidations increased to $2.38 million, with short liquidations totaling $1.56 million.
Charles Hoskinson stays bullish for ADA in 2025
Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, also expressed optimism in Cardano (ADA) in 2025. Hoskinson predicts extraordinary growth for the network, noting the eventual integration of Bitcoin DeFi via the BitcoinOS network as a crucial factor. This approach might bring billions of dollars into the Cardano ecosystem by combining Bitcoin’s liquidity and capabilities.
Furthermore, Hoskinson is dedicated to further decentralization for the Cardano blockchain, stating that his last “duty is to remove any roadblock for this transition, and there is no way in hell anyone or thing is going to derail that process”. Recently, he questioned the Cardano Foundation’s increased power over overall decision-making. Such events may be optimistic for Cardano’s price in the long run.
