Is There a Quiet Withdrawal in Crypto Coins? Wintermute Sends a Notable Signal for Institutions

The recent accelerated decline in the cryptocurrency market, along with the increase in conversions from stablecoins to fiat currency, indicates that some institutional investors are pulling back again.

Jasper De Maere, serving as a desk strategist at the crypto trading firm Wintermute, stated that there has been a noticeable increase in the conversion of stablecoins into fiat currency recently. According to De Maere, this situation suggests that some institutional investors who entered the market at the beginning of the year are currently reducing their risk appetite and shrinking their positions.

This pullback in the crypto market occurred despite the relatively resilient performance of the US stock markets. The Nasdaq index closed the day up 0.4%, even after a 15% post-earnings drop in Intel shares. Although Intel exceeded expectations for the fourth quarter, supply issues in AI chips caused disappointment in the first-quarter forecasts. Nonetheless, the stock has gained 17% since the beginning of the year.

Bitcoin Side: Weakening US Demand
On the other hand, there is a noticeable weakening in US demand for Bitcoin. James Van Straten, senior analyst at CoinDesk, recalled that when Bitcoin's price reached $98,000 last week, the yield in US trading hours had risen to as much as 9% since the beginning of the year. However, this rate quickly fell back to around 2%.

This decline coincided with over $1.6 billion outflows from US spot Bitcoin ETFs over the last four trading days. The data reveals a clear cooling in the appetite for Bitcoin among US-based investors. When combined with the stablecoin outflows indicated by Wintermute, it suggests that the crypto market is entering a short-term cautious phase.

NOT INVESTMENT ADVICE
#CryptoMarketWatch $BTC $ETH