Within the first half of 2025, crypto market has seen its widest divergence in investor focus since 2023, with establishments doubling down on majors whereas retail pivots to altcoins.
In line with Wintermute’s 1H 2025 OTC Market Report, establishments have doubled down on Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) within the first half of this yr, sustaining a hefty 67% allocation to those two belongings. In distinction, retail traders have pulled again sharply, dropping their mixed BTC and ETH holdings to only 37%, as they more and more shift focus towards altcoins.
Wintermute described the development as “the widest divergence since 2023 and a transparent break from earlier parallel strikes.”
Past portfolio allocations, institutional adoption is reshaping crypto buying and selling dynamics. In line with the report, OTC buying and selling volumes have surged to develop 2.4 occasions quicker than CEX volumes within the first half of this yr, pushed by institutional gamers looking for giant, discreet trades with out exposing belongings on exchanges.
“Counterparties proceed to hunt environment friendly methods to execute bigger trades, and as institutional participation grows, there’s a rising choice to commerce with out the necessity to maintain belongings on alternate platforms,” Wintermute wrote.
The report additionally famous a 412% soar in choices buying and selling centered on BTC and ETH, in comparison with the primary half of 2024, alongside a twofold improve in traded CFD underlyings, together with newly launched index merchandise.
Wintermute’s report exhibits that legacy memecoins like Dogecoin (DOGE) , Shiba Inu (SHIB), and Pepe Coin (PEPE) misplaced floor to newer entrants like Bonk (BONK), Dogwifhat (WIF), and Popcat (POPCAT). Because of this, the share of long-tail memecoins surged dramatically, rising from 0.7% to 16.1% of whole buying and selling move.
