Institutional Buyers Struggle to Lift Bitcoin as Spot Market Weakness Persists

Although institutional players continue to show interest in bitcoin, the cryptocurrency’s price remains trapped in consolidation mode, as declining spot market demand threatens to stall further gains.

As Asian markets begin the trading week, bitcoin (BTC) is hovering near $109,000, posting a modest 0.8% increase over the past week and a 4.5% rise for the month, according to CoinDesk data.

Even with ongoing large-scale bitcoin purchases by Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy (MSTR), steady inflows into bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), and more corporations integrating BTC into their treasuries, bitcoin’s price has yet to surpass its previous all-time highs.

A new report from CryptoQuant sheds light on why momentum remains elusive: Institutional buying on its own can’t offset the broader decline in spot demand for bitcoin.

“The annual growth of bitcoin demand paints a similar picture: while ETFs and MSTR purchases form a part of bitcoin demand, the overall contraction in demand outweighs these acquisitions. Accelerating overall demand growth is what typically drives price rallies,” CryptoQuant noted in its latest analysis.

CryptoQuant estimates that bitcoin demand has shrunk by around -895,000 BTC over the past 30 days—a significant drop highlighting the scale of the market’s weakness.

Institutional buying itself has also lost steam compared to December levels. In the final month of 2024, ETFs accumulated 86,000 BTC, while MicroStrategy purchased 171,000 BTC. However, over the past month, ETFs acquired just 40,000 BTC, and MicroStrategy’s buying fell sharply to 16,000 BTC.

As a result, bitcoin continues trading within a narrow range, with CryptoQuant warning that the current demand landscape remains too weak to ignite a breakout rally.

Another sign of subdued retail interest is bitcoin’s nearly empty mempool, signaling a lack of transaction activity and lower engagement from individual investors.

The critical question for bitcoin’s next move is whether institutional investors will keep up their buying pace—or whether slowing purchases will further cap the cryptocurrency’s price potential.

Anthony Scaramucci, founder of SkyBridge Capital, expressed caution about relying too heavily on the corporate treasury trend as a long-term driver of bitcoin demand:

“Right now we’re having this replicative treasury company idea. So, you know, it will fade,” Scaramucci told Bloomberg in a recent interview.

“Saylor’s case is different because he’s got a couple different products going now,” he added. “I’m not negative on the others, because I’m too bullish on bitcoin, but I would just say as an investor, you have to look through the underlying costs associated with each one of these treasury companies.”

Still, Standard Chartered maintains a bullish outlook for bitcoin, standing by its forecast that the cryptocurrency could eventually hit $200,000.

Market Highlights

• BTC: Bitcoin held firm above $108,500 over the weekend and edged up from $108,327 to $108,620 in the past hour. The $108,200–$108,300 range is currently serving as support for the upward trend.
• ETH: Ethereum climbed from $2,520.45 to $2,558.63 on July 6, with trading volume hitting 272,352 ETH. It’s finding support around $2,510 amid global macroeconomic uncertainty. June saw $1.1 billion in inflows to ETH ETFs, and record whale accumulation hints at a potential breakout, though resistance remains near $2,600.
• Gold: Gold surged 1.91% last week to $3,336.61, driven by dollar weakness, expectations of a 91.5% chance of a Federal Reserve rate cut in September, renewed trade tensions, and a 73% increase in China’s gold imports.
• Nikkei 225: Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.26% as markets reacted to conflicting signals from the White House about trade tariffs.

About The Author

ctleditor

See author's posts