Bitcoin Faces Mixed Signals: Institutional Investors Accumulate Amid Retail Weakness

Samuel Edyme

5 months ago

3 mins read

Bitcoin Faces Mixed Signals: Institutional Investors Accumulate Amid Retail Weakness

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Bitcoin has experienced notable price volatility since the start of the year, with its performance showing mixed signals. Institutional investors, however, appear to have maintained their confidence in the asset despite recent market corrections.

According to a recent analysis shared by CryptoQuant contributor caueconomy on the QuickTake platform, institutional players have been strategically accumulating Bitcoin, suggesting long-term confidence in the asset’s value trajectory.

Bitcoin Institutional Accumulation Signals Market Confidence

caueconomy revealed that on December 21, investors sold approximately 79,000 BTC within a week, triggering a significant market correction of around 15%. This sell-off marked a local top and was followed by a phase of price consolidation.

However, instead of exiting the market, large investors utilized the price dip to open Time-Weighted Average Price (TWAP) positions, gradually accumulating Bitcoin just below the $95,000 mark.

Bitcoin balance change of large holders. | Source: CryptoQuant

Over the past 30 days, institutional players have added more than 34,000 BTC to their portfolios, creating a layer of buying pressure that supports Bitcoin’s current recovery phase.

Interestingly, the analyst pointed out that this trend has been consistent since June 2023, even during periods of rebalancing in institutional portfolios.

While retail investor demand has hit a five-year low, institutional interest remains notably strong, indicating a divergence in market behavior between retail and institutional participants. This sustained accumulation suggests that large investors anticipate long-term value

Increased Selling Pressure On Binance Sparks Market Concern

While institutional accumulation has provided some support for Bitcoin’s price, another CryptoQuant contributor, Darkfost, highlighted growing selling pressure on Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges.

In a separate analysis, Darkfost noted a sharp increase in hourly Net Taker Volume, which turned significantly negative, peaking at -$325 million — the highest figure recorded in 2025.

Binance Net Taker Volume. | Source: CryptoQuant

This surge in selling pressure coincided with the release of unfavorable economic data from the ISM PMI and JOLTs Job Openings reports, which affected broader market sentiment across risk assets, including cryptocurrencies.

The data triggered a wave of sell orders, causing Bitcoin’s price to face additional downward pressure. Darksfost suggested, noting:

Monitoring this indicator, along with others, will be essential to determine whether fear is starting to dominate the markets over the long term or if it is merely temporary.

Despite this intensified selling activity, Bitcoin has managed to maintain support above the $95,000 level. At the time of writing, the cryptocurrency is trading at $95,586, reflecting a 5.2% decline over the past 24 hours. The price remains significantly below Bitcoin’s all-time high of $108,000, recorded last month, marking an 11.8% drop from its peak.

Bitcoin price chart on TradingView — BTC price is moving sideways on the 4-hour chart. Source: BTC/USDT on TradingView.com

Featured image created with DALL-E, Chart from TradingView

Samuel Edyme

Meet Samuel Edyme, Nickname - HIM-buktu. A web3 content writer, journalist, and aspiring trader, Edyme is as versatile as they come. With a knack for words and a nose for trends, he has penned pieces for numerous industry player, including AMBCrypto, Blockchain.News, and Blockchain Reporter, among others.

Edyme’s foray into the crypto universe is nothing short of cinematic. His journey began not with a triumphant investment, but with a scam. Yes, a Ponzi scheme that used crypto as payment roped him in. Rather than retreating, he emerged wiser and more determined, channeling his experience into over three years of insightful market analysis.

Before becoming the voice of reason in the crypto space, Edyme was the quintessential crypto degen. He aped into anything that promised a quick buck, anything ape-able, learning the ropes the hard way. These hands-on experience through major market events—like the Terra Luna crash, the wave of bankruptcies in crypto firms, the notorious FTX collapse, and even CZ’s arrest—has honed his keen sense of market dynamics.

When he isn’t crafting engaging crypto content, you’ll find Edyme backtesting charts, studying both forex and synthetic indices. His dedication to mastering the art of trading is as relentless as his pursuit of the next big story. Away from his screens, he can be found in the gym, airpods in, working out and listening to his favorite artist, NF. Or maybe he’s catching some Z’s or scrolling through Elon Musk’s very own X platform—(oops, another screen activity, my bad…)

Well, being an introvert, Edyme thrives in the digital realm, preferring online interaction over offline encounters—(don’t judge, that’s just how he is built). His determination is quite unwavering to be honest, and he embodies the philosophy of continuous improvement, or “kaizen,” striving to be 1% better every day. His mantras, “God knows best” and “Everything is still on track,” reflect his resilient outlook and how he lives his life.

In a nutshell, Samuel Edyme was born efficient, driven by ambition, and perhaps a touch fierce. He’s neither artistic nor unrealistic, and certainly not chauvinistic. Think of him as Bruce Willis in a train wreck—unflappable. Edyme is like trading in your car for a jet—bold. He’s the guy who’d ask his boss for a pay cut just to prove a point—(uhhh…). He is like watching your kid take his first steps. Imagine Bill Gates struggling with rent—okay, maybe that’s a stretch, but you get the idea, yeah. Unbelievable? Yes. Inconceivable? Perhaps.

Edyme sees himself as a fairly reasonable guy, albeit a bit stubborn. Normal to you is not to him. He is not the one to take the easy road, and why would he? That’s just not the way he roll. He has these favorite lyrics from NF’s “Clouds” that resonate deeply with him: “What you think's probably unfeasible, I've done already a hundredfold.”

PS—Edyme is HIM. HIM-buktu. Him-mulation. Him-Kardashian. Himon and Pumba. He even had his DNA tested, and guess what? He’s 100% Him-alayan. Screw it, he ate the opp.

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