BlackRock's Crypto ETF Holdings Shed $29.4B in H1 2026

BlackRock's combined Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF portfolio lost $29.38 billion in the first half of 2026, a 37.5% decline from start to end of the period, Finbold data from Arkham showed.

The world's largest asset manager held $78.36 billion in BTC and ETH across its spot ETFs on January 1. By June 30, that figure sat at $48.98 billion.

Bitcoin accounted for the bulk of the dollar drop. BlackRock's BTC position fell from $68.05 billion to $44.62 billion, a $23.43 billion loss. In percentage terms Ethereum took a harder hit. The firm's ETH holdings dropped from $10.31 billion to $4.36 billion, a 57.7% slide.

The story diverged between the two assets. BlackRock added to its Bitcoin stash during Q1. Holdings rose from roughly 770,290 BTC to 785,240 BTC, a 1.94% increase. That means the value decline came entirely from price, not redemptions. Ethereum saw the opposite. BlackRock reduced its ETH position from 3.47 million to 3.06 million tokens, an 11.8% cut. Price and volume both worked against it.

The first quarter did most of the damage to the portfolio's value. Between January 1 and March 31, the combined holdings lost $20.47 billion, or 26.1%. Price drove that decline. BTC slid from $88,341 to $65,982, a 25.3% move. ETH fell from $2,966 to $1,983, a 33.1% drop. The Q2 slide was quieter. Bitcoin lost another $2.96 billion as price slipped from $68,232 to $60,136. Ethereum's position shrank by $1.72 billion as ETH went from $2,104 to $1,610. Data on whether holdings changed in Q2 was not provided in the report.

The H1 2026 numbers stand in sharp contrast to the same period a year earlier. In the first half of 2025, BlackRock added nearly $24 billion to its crypto ETF portfolio, the Finbold data showed. BTC holdings grew from $51.16 billion to $74.47 billion, a 45.6% gain. ETH rose from $3.61 billion to $4.21 billion, up 16.6%.

BlackRock's ETF flows serve as a proxy for institutional crypto appetite. The first-half drawdown reflects a broader bear market in digital assets. Bitcoin fell roughly 32% from January 1 to June 30. Ethereum lost 46%. The message from the two assets' holding patterns is different. For BTC, the accumulation in Q1 suggests institutional buyers used the price drop to add exposure. For ETH, active trimming by BlackRock clients or the fund itself added sell pressure on top of the price decline.

The biggest question for the second half is whether BTC accumulation resumed in Q2. Arkham data for June 30 showed BlackRock held 785,240 BTC, the same level as March 31. If inflows picked up in subsequent weeks, the next quarterly snapshot will show it. If not, the current price slide has been driven entirely by market repricing, not by ETF flows.

Ethereum faces a different test. BlackRock trimmed its ETH position in Q1 despite price weakness. That suggests active client redemptions or rebalancing rather than passive exposure decay. Whether that selling continued into Q2 is unknown without more recent holdings data.

The broader crypto market analysis environment remains fragile. Bitcoin (BTC) sits near multi-month lows. Ethereum (ETH) hovers around $1,600. ETF flows for both have turned negative in recent weeks, according to fund-level data tracked by several analytics firms. The next real catalyst is whether the Federal Reserve's rate decision in late July shifts risk appetite.

BlackRock's own quarterly filing, due in October, will give the market its next full look at the crypto portfolio's trajectory. Until then, the data points will come piecemeal from blockchain trackers like Arkham.