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.
While crypto was built on retail speculation and momentum trading, the recent lull is a sign of how professional traders are now setting the tone.
“These trends suggest crypto is entering a more institutionally driven market structure, with capital becoming increasingly concentrated, derivatives playing a larger role in expressing exposure, and tokenized assets beginning to see meaningful secondary market activity,” Wintermute analysts said in a report.
