At the start of this week, Bitcoin has begun a confirmed decline below the $90,000 level. A bearish trend that began after its last all-time high appears to be causing institutional investors to lose confidence.
Bitcoin faces a significant decline in institutional confidence
At the start of this week, Bitcoin has begun a confirmed decline below the $90,000 level. A bearish trend that began after its last all-time high appears to be causing a loss of confidence among institutional investors.
Bitcoin: Are Institutional Investors Pulling Back?
Bitcoin’s various bull cycles often involve the arrival of new investors who are motivated and convinced of its future performance. It was the influx of investors from traditional finance and institutional structures that propelled its price beyond $100,000.
However, this November appears to be shaping up to be bearish for the BTC price, with the price having just fallen below the $90,000 level for the first time since April, following a 7% decline over the past 24 hours and a 15% drop over the past week.
BTC price drops below $90,000
At the same time, the crypto ETP market—exchange-traded products, including ETFs—has seen massive outflows exceeding $2 billion over the past week. The cause, according to Bloomberg analysts, is a loss of confidence among institutional buyers, such as “ETF allocators and corporate treasuries.”
Indeed, these high-profile investors “have been the backbone of Bitcoin’s legitimacy and price throughout the year,” repositioning BTC as a leading diversification asset, offering protection against inflation, currency depreciation, and political chaos.
But this narrative—always fragile—is unraveling once again, exposing the market to something quieter but just as destabilizing: disengagement.
Bloomberg
BTC Underperforms Gold and Tech Stocks
The main cause of this loss of conviction appears to be Bitcoin’s performance, which is viewed as disappointing, particularly when compared to assets like gold or tech stocks. And for good reason: BTC now shows a negative return of -1% over the past year, while Nvidia and gold (XAU) have risen by nearly 40% and over 50%, respectively, over the same period.
This situation has led to a quiet but significant withdrawal of these institutional players over the past few months, the main consequence of which is a reassessment of previously held expectations regarding BTC. At the same time, Citigroup analysts note a significant decline in the number of whales—holding more than 1,000 BTC—which is said to indicate “that people have lost their enthusiasm.”
The number of BTC whales is falling while small wallets are increasing
Analysts at the cryptocurrency exchange platform Bitfinex caution against this interpretation, urging against “an overly alarmist reading of recent data.” They explain that “whales are not selling out of fear, but are gradually taking profits in an environment of weaker ETF demand.”
These rebalancing periods generally reset positions and volatility ahead of a new bull run, once flows and liquidity conditions improve.
Bitfinex
Note: According to recent data from Glassnode, this trend appears to have reversed in the last few days.
Whales are buying the dip while small holders are selling
Last chance to buy Bitcoin under $90,000
Meanwhile, long-term players in the cryptocurrency sector remain confident in the face of another BTC drop, which is just the latest in a long list.
This is the case, for example, with Cameron Winklevoss, one of the twins behind the Gemini platform, on the X network. This will also be the conclusion of this article:
This is the last time you’ll be able to buy Bitcoin for under $90,000!
Cameron Winklevoss
