Bybit sees BTC, ETH ‘flight’ of institutional investors to stablecoins, but not for long

Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit has released its latest quarterly report, revealing the trading and holding trends of its institutional traders heavy in positive Bitcoin sentiment.

The cryptocurrency exchange Bybit released its fourth quarter report on Dec.

The report found that institutional traders had some 45% of their assets in stablecoins, with the remaining split 35% in Bitcoin (BTC), 15% in Ether (ETH) and only 5% in altcoins, which the exchange categorizes as anything other than the aforementioned digital assets.

The survey suggests that the “flight” to “safer assets,” like stablecoins, in a bear market “might explain this risk-averse asset allocation from traders.”

Nonetheless, institutional traders’ allocation of Bitcoin did spike in September, which differentiated itself from the holding patterns of other types of users.

Surge in institutional traders’ BTC holdings in September 2023. Source: Bybit

According to Bybit, the alignment of a surge in institutional BTC holdings with the prevailing positive market attitude toward Bitcoin can be correlated with “favorable lawsuit outcomes, fostering anticipation for the SEC’s potential approval of a spot BTC ETF.”

On Dec. 4, BTC surged above $41,000 for the first time in 19 months, and the overall market capitalization for the digital asset passed $800 billion, overtaking the real multinational holding company Berkshire Hathaway, and is now behind companies like Meta (formerly Facebook) and Nvidia.

Related: Coinbase warns customers about subpoena in apparent CFTC Bybit probe

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