Bitcoin Near $90K as BlackRock’s IBIT ETF Becomes Its Most Profitable Product Despite $2.34 Billion in November Outflows

Bitcoin is starting December on a knife-edge. After a bruising November sell-off, the world’s largest cryptocurrency is back hovering around the psychologically important $90,000 level, while BlackRock’s flagship iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has quietly become the asset manager’s most profitable product line – even as it just weathered $2.34 billion in monthly outflows. ^[1]

The picture on 1 December 2025 is a paradox: spot Bitcoin ETFs, led by BlackRock, are both the biggest revenue engine in the firm’s ETF family and a focal point of investor anxiety as flows swing violently with every move in BTC’s price.

Bitcoin Price Today: Holding the $90K Line After a Violent November

According to TradingView data, Bitcoin recently traded around $90,330, fighting for momentum after a sharp correction from its October record above $120,000. ^[2]

Short-term technicals remain finely balanced:

Immediate resistance: around $92,500, a level traders say could open the door to $97,000 and even a retest of $100,000 if bulls regain control. ^[3]
Key support: the $85,500–$86,000 area, flagged as the zone where buyers last stepped in aggressively. ^[4]

CryptoNews notes that BTC is testing a descending trendline that has capped every rebound since early November, with price action clustering around a key Fibonacci retracement near $90,800 and momentum indicators still tilted bullish but not yet overheated. ^[5]

At the same time, multiple price trackers show BTC fluctuating in the high‑$80,000 to low‑$90,000 range today, underlining just how fragile this support area is after November’s drawdown of more than 20% from October’s peak. ^[6]

BlackRock’s IBIT: From Newcomer to Most Profitable Product

Amid this volatility, BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF is quietly rewriting the ETF playbook.

A new report from Brave New Coin, published on December 1, reveals that IBIT has become BlackRock’s most profitable product line – a remarkable feat for a fund that only launched in January 2024. ^[7]

Key milestones from the report:

AUM milestone: IBIT has grown to about $70.7 billion in net assets, having reached $70 billion in just 341 days, making it the fastest-growing ETF in history. ^[8]
Fee engine: by October 2025, the fund was generating an estimated $245 million in annual fees, thanks to its 0.25% expense ratio, far higher than the 0.03% fee on BlackRock’s flagship S&P 500 ETF. ^[9]
Market share of Bitcoin: IBIT now controls more than 3% of Bitcoin’s total supply, cementing it as one of the single largest BTC holders on the planet. ^[10]
Record inflows: the ETF attracted over $52 billion in net inflows in its first year, outpacing every other ETF launched in the last decade. ^[11]

Because of that higher fee rate on a massive asset base, IBIT is now earning more for BlackRock than the firm’s giant S&P 500 tracker, despite managing a fraction of the assets. It’s a clear sign that in the era of near‑zero‑fee index funds, specialized crypto products can command premium pricing – and deliver serious revenue.

November’s ETF Stress Test: $2.34 Billion Out in a Month

The story wasn’t all rosy in November.

The TradingView note that underpins today’s headlines highlights that BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF complex, led by IBIT, saw $2.34 billion in net outflows during November, the largest monthly bleed since launch. ^[12]

Brave New Coin and other data providers break down how painful that was:

Total November outflows (IBIT): $2.34 billion
Largest single-day outflow: around $523 million on November 18, a record one‑day withdrawal since the ETF began trading. ^[13]
Another heavy day: roughly $463 million pulled on November 14, coinciding with a sharp drop in BTC from above $100,000 toward the low‑$90,000s. ^[14]

Reuters described the November exodus as a symptom of a broader “hangover” in crypto after the exuberant run‑up earlier in the year, noting that Bitcoin fell to a seven‑month low below $90,000 during the same stretch. ^[15]

Yet BlackRock executives have been keen to frame the outflows as normal behavior for a highly liquid, high‑beta ETF. At a blockchain conference in São Paulo, Cristiano Castro, BlackRock’s director of business development in Brazil, argued that retail investors routinely rebalance when prices compress, and that IBIT’s structure is doing exactly what it’s supposed to do: provide frictionless access in and out of Bitcoin exposure. ^[16]

Selling Pressure Eases: BlackRock’s “Bitcoin Bet” Turns Green Again

Just as headlines about record outflows were peaking, the tide started to shift.

A late‑November analysis from CryptoNews reports that the rebound in BTC back toward $90,000 has pushed BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust back into profit for its investors as a whole, a psychological turning point after several weeks in the red. ^[17]

According to data from on‑chain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence, cited in that report:

IBIT holders now sit on approximately $3.2 billion in cumulative unrealized gains, up from a trough near $630 million when BTC briefly slid into the mid‑$80,000s. ^[18]
The average flow‑weighted purchase price of IBIT shares is clustered just below current Bitcoin spot prices, meaning even modest strength in BTC keeps most ETF buyers in the green. ^[19]

After two brutal weeks of ETF redemptions, Bitcoin funds – led once again by IBIT – have logged two consecutive days of net inflows, a modest but notable reversal. CryptoNews also notes that BlackRock remains the only spot Bitcoin ETF issuer with net positive flows for 2025 overall, despite November’s turbulence. ^[20]

In other words: the “selling is over” narrative may be premature, but the worst of the forced de‑risking appears to have passed for now.

Deepening Institutional Demand: Harvard, BlackRock Itself, and the “IBIT Club”

One of the most striking takeaways from Brave New Coin’s report is how traditional institutional capital has embraced IBIT – including players that historically avoided plain‑vanilla ETFs.

Highlights include: ^[21]

Harvard University Endowment
- Holds roughly $443 million in IBIT as of September 30, 2025
- That position accounts for over 20% of its U.S. public equity holdings
- Harvard tripled its IBIT allocation in Q3 2025, a rare move for an endowment that typically favors private equity and real assets.
BlackRock’s own funds
- The firm’s Strategic Income Opportunities Portfolio increased its stake in IBIT by 14%, signaling internal conviction that the Bitcoin ETF is not just a revenue driver, but a strategic asset in diversified portfolios.

This level of adoption matters for Bitcoin’s long‑term narrative. University endowments and multi‑asset bond funds are exactly the kind of conservative, benchmark‑driven allocators many in the crypto space once doubted would ever hold BTC. Their participation via IBIT suggests that the asset is increasingly being treated less like a speculative toy and more like “digital gold” with a clear role in institutional portfolios.

Macro Backdrop: Fed Pivot, Liquidity and a “Risk-Off Start to December”

The next major catalyst for both Bitcoin and IBIT isn’t on a crypto chart – it’s on the Federal Reserve’s calendar.

CryptoNews notes that futures markets now price roughly an 85–87% probability of a 25‑basis‑point rate cut at the Fed’s December 10 meeting, a sharp shift from just a week earlier. ^[22]

Separately, CCN highlights that the Fed is ending its quantitative tightening (QT) program as of December 1, after shrinking its balance sheet from nearly $9 trillion to about $6.6 trillion since 2022. ^[23] Ending QT removes one of the persistent liquidity headwinds for risk assets, potentially giving Bitcoin more breathing room if real yields soften.

Yet the mood isn’t universally bullish. A report carried by Hindustan Times, citing market commentary from FalconX’s APAC derivatives desk, describes a “risk‑off start to December” following a sudden weekend crypto sell‑off, pointing to meagre inflows into Bitcoin ETFs and a lack of dip‑buyers as near‑term concerns. The same piece flags $80,000 as the next big support level traders are watching if selling resumes. ^[24]

This tug‑of‑war – between an easing Fed and shaky risk appetite – is likely to define BTC and IBIT price action into mid‑December.

ETF Trading Activity: IBIT at the Center of Bitcoin Market Liquidity

Even in a choppy November, IBIT’s role in crypto market structure only grew.

Brave New Coin’s data shows that in late November: ^[25]

Bitcoin ETFs recorded about $40 billion in trading volume in a single week
IBIT accounted for nearly 70% of that, with $27.79 billion in weekly volume

On the derivatives side, IBIT options, launched in late 2024, now average around $1.7 billion in daily notional volume, placing them among the most actively traded ETF‑linked options on the market.

That concentration of activity has two important implications:

Price discovery – A huge slice of Bitcoin price formation now happens in regulated ETF and options venues, not just on crypto exchanges.
Feedback loops – Swings in ETF flows, options hedging, and futures positioning can amplify moves in spot BTC, especially around key macro events like Fed meetings.

For traders, that means watching IBIT flows and options open interest is now as important as watching on‑chain data or exchange order books.

What Comes Next for Bitcoin and IBIT?

Pulling all of this together, the December 1 snapshot looks like this:

Bitcoin is consolidating near $90,000, a level that divides short‑term bulls and bears.
IBIT has solidified its status as BlackRock’s most profitable product, even after absorbing record outflows in November. ^[26]
ETF investors are, for now, back in profit, easing pressure for forced selling and improving sentiment at the margin. ^[27]
Macro policy is shifting toward easier financial conditions, but the market tone remains cautious, with analysts still warning of structural headwinds and the risk of a retest of lower levels. ^[28]

From an analytical standpoint, several signposts will likely determine whether Bitcoin’s next big move is back toward $100,000+ or down toward $80,000:

ETF flows – sustained inflows into IBIT and peers would reinforce the “dip is over” thesis; renewed heavy redemptions would suggest institutions are still de‑risking.
Fed communication – a dovish tone and confirmation of QT’s end with a clear roadmap for cuts would support risk assets; a more hawkish stance could pressure BTC again.
Volatility in derivatives – changes in IBIT options skew and BTC futures funding rates may signal whether traders are positioning for upside or hedging downside.

For long‑term investors, the bigger picture may matter more than the next $5,000 move. With BlackRock’s ETF now one of the most profitable products in traditional finance and major institutions like Harvard onboard, Bitcoin’s integration into the mainstream investment stack looks increasingly entrenched, regardless of short‑term turbulence. ^[29]