Institutional Traders Increase Bitcoin And Ether Holdings, Remain Sceptical on Altcoins, Bybit Says

Updated: 04 December 2023

Disclosure

Don’t invest unless prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment, you shouldn’t expect to be protected if something goes wrong.

Join Our Telegram channel to stay up to date on breaking news coverage

Institutional traders have increased their Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) holdings this year but remain largely skeptical about alternative cryptocurrencies, according to Bybit research.

The research shows that institutional traders have 45% of their crypto assets in stablecoins, 50% in Bitcoin and Ether, and 5% in altcoins.

“Flight to safer assets in a bear market might explain this risk-averse asset allocation from traders,” the research says.

Traders nearly doubled their BTC holdings during the first three quarters of 2023. In September, 50% of the crypto portfolio held by institutional traders was in Bitcoin.

This trading behavior stems from positive market sentiment toward BTC amid the potential approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Institutional traders also started accumulating Ether in September, the report says, amid upbeat sentiment caused by ETF news.

On the other hand, the percentage of assets allocated by institutions to altcoins has recorded a significant drop.

Retail Traders Reduce Bitcoin Holdings on Higher Leverage Levels

In contrast, retail traders have reduced their BTC holdings, with researchers attributing it to “higher leverage levels.”

Retail traders have the highest stablecoin holdings. But institutions are reducing their stablecoin holdings and investing in BTC and ETH, signaling growing optimism towards the crypto market.