Holding Bitcoin and 'Discarding' Ethereum... Institutions' Ruthless Portfolio Reorganization

▲ Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH)

Bitcoin (BTC) is rapidly increasing its major fund holdings, backed by an influx of institutional investor funds. On the other hand, Ethereum (ETH) showed a large-scale outflow during the same period, revealing a clear difference in institutional demand compared to Bitcoin.

According to the cryptocurrency specialized media outlet U.Today on May 8 (local time), crypto analytics platform CryptoQuant released data showing a clear divergence in institutional fund flows for Bitcoin and Ethereum since February. Bitcoin's major institutional holdings increased by over 92,000 BTC in approximately three months, indicating strong accumulation.

According to the data, Bitcoin holdings increased from approximately 1.278 million BTC to 1.37 million BTC since early February. The increase rate is approximately 7.2%. U.Today reported that with a steady influx of funds into Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), institutional investors are increasingly viewing Bitcoin as a long-term store of value.

Ethereum showed the opposite trend. During the same period, institutional Ethereum holdings decreased from approximately 5.93 million ETH to 5.80 million ETH. The decrease amounted to over 127,000 ETH, a reduction of approximately 2.1% over about three months.

While the overall cryptocurrency market has shown recovery since the long-term volatility that began late last year, Ethereum's recovery has not received sufficient support from institutional demand. U.Today reported that even though Ethereum's price showed signs of stabilization after a sell-off, fund holdings continued to decrease. This indicates that large investors are maintaining a cautious stance towards Ethereum.

The divergence in fund flows between Bitcoin and Ethereum demonstrates that institutional investors are adopting different strategies for each asset within the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin increased its institutional holdings based on ETF demand and a preference for long-term holding, while Ethereum could not avoid a decrease in holdings despite the market recovery.

*Disclaimer: This article is for investment reference only, and we are not responsible for any investment losses based on it. The content should be interpreted for informational purposes only.*