The bank notes that in April, retail investors sold off cryptocurrency and equity assets, while Bitcoin ETF spot exchange-traded funds faced outflows. This occurred against the backdrop of increased positioning, high BTC prices compared to gold, and restrained venture capital funding.
According to the company’s report, significant profit-taking has been observed in cryptocurrency markets in recent weeks. Retail investors played a major role in the sell-off.
BTC lost 16% in price in April, marking the largest decline since the summer of 2022. Spot Bitcoin ETFs were sold off at the fastest pace on Wednesday, with a net outflow of $563.7M.
Analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou noted that institutional investors are impulsive traders, profiting from extremely long positions in BTC and gold.
Nevertheless, futures market analysis suggests a more limited reduction in positions by other institutional investors beyond quantitative funds and CTAs.