ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan stated in a report to clients on Wednesday that there is an interesting dichotomy between institutional and retail investors in the cryptocurrency space. On one hand, institutional investors have the most optimistic sentiment towards cryptocurrencies in history, while retail investors are sinking into despair. Investment professionals now view cryptocurrencies as a field where institutional capital is being allocated through ETFs at record amounts, and Washington has transformed from being one of the "biggest threats" to the industry to being one of the biggest supporters under the Trump administration, with nation-states potentially adopting the industry further.However, for retail investors, "it's almost like living in another reality," as Bitwise's own on-chain sentiment score shows one of the lowest readings ever. This index aligns with other sentiment indicators and the overall atmosphere of "crypto Twitter," where retail investors feel disheartened as their investments in altcoins have underperformed compared to Bitcoin, with only a few exceptions.Matt Hougan expressed his strong belief that institutions are correct, noting that so far this year, ETFs and corporations have purchased over 100,000 BTC, while the amount of BTC mined is 18,000. Moreover, in the long term, the allocation to altcoins is "stronger than at any time in history," but the situation for altcoins is more complex. As the regulatory agenda becomes clearer, the U.S. prioritizes stablecoins as a "national priority," and institutional confidence continues to grow, the crypto industry is bound to push DeFi applications to the mainstream, with impacts that are undeniable and unstoppable.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood stated that despite the temporary market downturn, the chances of Bitcoin reaching $1.5 million are increasing as institutional investors continue to expand their investments in digital assets.She said, "Many institutional investors are now looking at Bitcoin and believe they need to add it to their asset allocation because the return and risk profile of Bitcoin is very different from all other assets in their portfolios."

ChainCatcher news, according to HODL15Capital, Monochrome has launched a Bitcoin ETF for institutional investors in Singapore.

ChainCatcher news, Bitfinex Alpha's latest report shows that the Bitcoin market is undergoing a structural transformation. Although the BTC price fell below $100,000 due to Trump's tariff policy, the continuous accumulation by institutional investors indicates market resilience. MicroStrategy increased its holdings by 10,107 bitcoins for $1.1 billion, bringing its total holdings to 158,400 bitcoins, and submitted a financing application to the SEC in preparation for future purchases; the Japanese listed company Metaplanet completed a $745 million financing to expand its Bitcoin reserves to hedge against the risk of yen depreciation. In January 2025, BTC recorded a 10% increase, with prices consolidating within a 15% range for nearly 65 days.On a macro level, Bitcoin's correlation with traditional markets has increased, with a 30-day correlation with the S&P 500 reaching 0.8, a new five-month high. The Federal Reserve maintained interest rates at 4.25%-4.50%, with inflation still above the 2% target, and core PCE year-on-year remaining at 2.8%. Meanwhile, Tether is integrating its $140 billion USDT into the Bitcoin Lightning Network, enhancing network payment efficiency through Taproot Assets technology, and driving Bitcoin's transformation from a store of value to a payment network.

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, based on CME Federal Reserve observation data, the market widely expects the Federal Reserve to announce a 25 basis point rate cut to the 4.25%-4.50% range at this week's FOMC meeting, marking the second rate cut since November, with the current expected probability as high as 93.4%.Luis Buenaventura, head of cryptocurrency at GCash, stated that since the rate cut expectations have already been priced in by the market, the direct impact of this policy adjustment on cryptocurrency prices will be relatively limited. Historical data shows that when Bitcoin experiences a 50% increase within 60 days, there is about a two-thirds probability of achieving an additional 35% increase in the following two months.Neal Wen, global business development director at Kronos Research, added that in a low-interest-rate environment, institutional investors tend to view crypto assets as an alternative to traditional investments. Min Jung, a research analyst at Presto Labs, pointed out that the market focus has shifted to the policy speech content and the latest economic projections dot plot from Federal Reserve Chairman Powell, which will provide important guidance for the direction of monetary policy in 2025.

ChainCatcher news, according to Jin10, Pantera Capital founder and managing partner Dan Morehead stated that cryptocurrency is an emerging asset class that remains largely undeveloped by institutional investors. He remains optimistic about the long-term development trends of the cryptocurrency market.

ChainCatcher news, The ETF Store President Nate Geraci stated on social media, "The Ethereum spot ETF has seen net inflows for 10 consecutive days, with a total inflow amount reaching $1.4 billion. Two of those days saw inflow levels reach new highs since its launch in July. I believe this indicates that advisors and institutional investors are just beginning to pay attention to this space."

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, since Trump won the U.S. presidential election, the altcoin market has surged significantly, but Felix Hartmann, managing partner at Hartmann Capital, warns that the altcoin market may experience volatility in the short term as institutional investors increase profit-taking activities.Felix Hartmann stated, "Considering that the altcoin season is currently over." "Traders may remain irrational, but we are already in a phase where teams and venture capital are starting to cut back more aggressively."However, other traders believe this is just the beginning of the altcoin season. Anonymous cryptocurrency trader MilkyBull Crypto stated, "It seems logical from this month to March. The altseason has just begun and will last for about 90 days."

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, early-stage investment firm Portal Ventures has announced its support for Stacks' 1:1 Bitcoin programmable asset sBTC. The firm plans to launch a series of seminars to explain the role of sBTC in enhancing the capital efficiency of Bitcoin for institutional investors.Portal Ventures recently completed a $75 million second-phase fundraise, with investors including Chris Dixon, Marc Andreessen, Henry Kravis, and well-known institutions like Accolade and Theta. Portal Ventures is one of the earliest supporters of the Stacks ecosystem, and Portal Ventures partner Catrina Wang stated that sBTC will become an important bridge connecting Bitcoin and the DeFi ecosystem.

ChainCatcher news, according to Coinspeaker, Bitcoin mining company Argo Blockchain announced on December 2 that it has completed a £4.2 million (approximately $5.32 million) financing by issuing 76.9 million new ordinary shares to an undisclosed institutional investor, at a price of 5.5 pence per share. This transaction was executed using a cashbox mechanism, bringing the total number of shares issued by the company to over 717 million.The funds will be used to relocate or sell equipment at its Helios mining site in Texas, while maintaining ongoing operations at its Quebec site. Notably, the company reported a pre-tax loss of $38.8 million for the first three quarters of 2024, with mining profit margins dropping from 58% in the same period last year to 8%.

ChainCatcher news, Matrixport's latest weekly report shows that the progress of the fifth Bitcoin bull market closely aligns with its prediction made in July 2023. The report forecasts that Bitcoin will reach $125,000 by December 2024, and as Bitcoin approaches the $100,000 mark, this prediction becomes increasingly credible. The report suggests that institutional investors allocate both Bitcoin and gold, based on the Black-Litterman asset allocation model, which is expected to achieve a return rate of 15.6% with a Sharpe ratio of 1.6.The research indicates that although Bitcoin has outperformed gold in recent years, both assets hold investment value due to their low correlation and macroeconomic outlook. The report specifically notes that a sell-off in gold after the U.S. elections could present a good buying opportunity, and it is expected that central banks worldwide will continue to diversify their reserve assets in the coming years, further enhancing gold's importance in institutional portfolios.

ChainCatcher news, according to PR Newswire, a Sygnum Future Finance survey shows that 57% of institutional investors in Singapore plan to increase their long-term cryptocurrency allocation, while the average level for the survey is 47%.It is reported that the survey participants include Sygnum's institutional client base and investors, as well as various investment professionals from banks, hedge funds, multi-family and single-family offices, DLT foundations, funds, and asset management companies, with the main reason for increasing cryptocurrency investment being optimism about the industry's development trend.

ChainCatcher news, a survey by the global digital asset bank group Sygnum shows that institutions are ready to invest more in digital assets, with up to 57% of institutions planning to increase their cryptocurrency investments, thanks to the growing willingness of institutions to take risks and their long-term confidence in this asset class.This annual survey collected insights from over 400 institutions and professional investors, whose average investment experience exceeds 10 years, spanning 27 countries.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, CryptoQuant's research director Julio Moreno stated: "Trump's victory has rekindled American investors' demand for Bitcoin, and the Coinbase premium has turned positive for the first time since October 18." Coinbase is a favored platform among American investors, and its premium indicates increased buying interest, especially from institutional investors making large trades using Coinbase.As a signal of increasing demand from institutional investors, the daily trading volume of Bitcoin futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) reached a historic high of $13.15 billion yesterday. According to K33 research director Vetle Lunde, the average daily trading volume for CME Bitcoin futures in 2024 is currently $4.56 billion—higher even than the surge in trading volume during the FTX collapse in early November 2022. This milestone indicates a shift in Bitcoin trading activity, with an increasingly significant role played by institutional investors.Additionally, data shows that in just one week of November, the average monthly open interest for CME Bitcoin futures has already reached a historic high of $11.73 billion.

According to ChainCatcher's message, data from Coinbase's latest shareholder letter for the third quarter of 2024 shows:Total trading volume was $18.5 billion, a decrease of 18% from Q2 (down from $22.6 billion to $18.5 billion);Institutional investor trading volume was $15.1 billion, accounting for 81.6% of total trading volume, continuing to dominate;Retail investor trading volume was $3.4 billion, accounting for 18.4%.From the perspective of cryptocurrency trading structure:Bitcoin's trading share rose to 37%, an increase of 2 percentage points;Ethereum remained at 15%;USDT trading share rebounded from 10% to 15%;Other cryptocurrencies accounted for 33%.Additionally, Solana's share of trading revenue has reached 11%, indicating its growing importance as an emerging public chain. Although overall trading volume has decreased quarter-over-quarter, the increase in Bitcoin's trading share reflects that, following the approval of ETFs, Bitcoin remains the primary cryptocurrency favored by institutional investors.

ChainCatcher news, according to a report by Cryptoslate, based on Blockworks Research, nearly 70% of institutional investors holding Ethereum are participating in staking, with 52.6% holding liquid staking tokens (LST). Nearly half of the institutional investors staking ETH prefer to use only one integrated platform, such as Coinbase and Binance. At the same time, 60.6% of survey participants also use third-party staking platforms.The report states that one-fifth of the institutional investors surveyed allocate more than 60% of their portfolios to Ethereum or ETH-based LSTs. The survey participants include exchanges, custodians, investment firms, asset management companies, wallet providers, and banks. The report shows that the key features considered by respondents when choosing a staking provider are reputation, range of supported networks, pricing, ease of participation, competitive costs, as well as expertise and scalability.When deciding whether staking is feasible, liquidity and security are also the most important features for institutional investors. On a scale of 1 to 10, the average importance score for liquidity is 8.5, reflecting investors' concerns about the ability to exit large LST positions when necessary. Meanwhile, the security score is even higher, with an average importance rating of 9.4, due to concerns that withdrawal efficiency may be affected during market volatility. Additionally, 61.1% of respondents indicated that they are willing to pay extra for enhanced security and fault tolerance. Geographic location also plays a role, with half of the institutional investors considering the location of validators important when choosing a staking platform.