Institutional Bitcoin investment vehicles have cut their combined holdings 10% over the past three months, and a new CryptoQuant analysis says the corporate treasury trade that once amplified demand is breaking. Strategy sold more Bitcoin last week, while the Coinbase Premium Index has stayed negative for a record 93 days.
Institutional Bitcoin investment vehicles have shed 10% of their BTC holdings since May, according to onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant. The combined total fell from 1.33 million to 1.20 million BTC over three months. That exposure spans trusts, Bitcoin ETFs and closed-end funds.
The drawdown also hits corporate treasuries, another major channel for institutional Bitcoin buying. Business intelligence firm Strategy, holder of the largest Bitcoin treasury among public companies, sold 1,638 BTC last week.
Strategy's NAV discount disappears once debt is counted
Novaque Research, a CryptoQuant contributing analyst, said Bitcoin treasury companies previously amplified demand through a financing loop: shares traded above the value of their holdings, letting firms issue equity or debt to buy more Bitcoin and reinforce the premium. That mechanism weakens once market capitalization falls below net asset value and financing turns dilutive.
Basic share count puts Strategy's discount to net asset value at 0.7 as of Thursday. Once its $8 billion in debt and the liquidation preference on its STRC preferred stock are counted, though, the discount disappears and the multiple works out to 1.03.
CryptoQuant said the onchain evidence supports a loss of institutional demand, though it cannot directly isolate treasury companies.
Coinbase Premium holds a record negative streak
The retreat in fund and treasury holdings comes as the Coinbase Premium Index — which tracks the price gap between Coinbase's and Binance's BTC/USDT trading pairs — has stayed negative for a record 93 days, a streak running since early May.
Analysts view the premium's return to positive territory as a precondition for a Bitcoin price recovery. Web3 marketing platform FOUR told its followers on social media that, until the premium flips positive, institutional buying from US investors appears muted, suggesting a demand shortage rather than aggressive selling.
Citi, in a note reported by Reuters last month, cut its Bitcoin price forecast to $53,000 through 2027, citing ETF flows.
Source: Cointelegraph.com News
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