Bitcoin’s prolonged bear market is masking a fundamental shift in the systems churning beneath the surface, with hedge funds and asset managers quietly replacing retail traders as the dominant market forces.
Institutional investors accounted for 72% of spot trading by volume on Wintermute’s over-the-counter desk in the first half of 2026, up from 59% a year earlier, even as overall crypto volumes weakened, according to a recent report from the trading firm. The shift underscores how Wall Street is becoming the market’s primary source of liquidity, damping its trademark volatility along the way.
