BlackRock has executed a stealth maneuver in crypto, but not the headline-grabbing kind. When BlackRock’s IBIT ETF records a massive single-day Bitcoin purchase, many paint it as a bold corporate gamble. However, in reality, BlackRock isn’t gambling with its own wallet. Instead, it’s acting as a middleman, yanking Bitcoin off the open market for pension funds, asset managers, and long-term institutional whales.
In mid-January 2026, investor demand spiked like a degen on leverage. To satisfy that hunger, BlackRock gobbled up nearly 6647 Bitcoin in one session. This steady accumulation has pushed BlackRock’s total Bitcoin stash to roughly 781,000 BTC – Close to 4% of all Bitcoin currently in circulation. At this scale, BlackRock now ranks among the largest long-term holders, basically the crypto equivalent of a dragon sitting on a pile of gold.
Thus, as custodians move more of this Bitcoin into secure, offline storage, those coins have effectively vanished from the liquid market. Hence, fewer coins remain available for active trading, leaving less fuel for the short-term volatility engine.
A similar dynamic is now unfolding in Ethereum. BlackRock recently added tens of thousands of Ethereum, while other large investors locked up Ethereum through staked ETH. Staked ETH cannot move easily, further reducing supply on exchanges. Together, ETF accumulation and staking continue to tighten available supply and dampen short-term selling pressure, squeezing the market like a vice.
Despite this aggressive absorption, however, prices haven't gone full parabolic. In fact, at the time of writing, Ethereum was valued at close to $3,335 on the price charts. Still, these price levels are much better than the bloodbath seen below $90,000 – Levels BTC suffered back in Q4 2025, reminding everyone that crypto winters are brutal.
Meanwhile, BlackRock’s IBIT and ETHA recorded inflows worth $648.4 million and $81.6 million, respectively. The latest surge came on the heels of another major accumulation spree by BlackRock. Over a short window, the firm quietly pulled close to $1 billion worth of cryptos off the open market. It moved 9,619 Bitcoin, valued at roughly $878 million, along with 46,851 Ethereum worth about $149 million, directly into custodial storage, effectively burying them in a digital vault.
All these moves, together, show that the crypto markets no longer revolve around short-term hype. Therefore, as 2026 unfolds, the real question isn’t whether institutions are involved. It’s whether enough liquid Bitcoin and Ethereum will remain on exchanges to meet their growing demand, or if the supply squeeze will turn into a full-blown liquidity drought.
