Bitcoin bear market reveals shift from retail to professional investors

Bitcoin’s bear market has a new plot twist. The people selling aren’t the ones you’d expect, and the people holding are definitely not who dominated previous downturns. Hedge funds and asset managers have quietly become the dominant force in Bitcoin trading, accounting for a record 72% of spot trading volume on Wintermute’s OTC desk in the first half of 2026. That’s up from 61% in prior periods. Meanwhile, retail investors, the group that historically bought the dip with religious fervor, are the ones heading for the exits. ## The great role reversal On-chain data from Glassnode tells the story in stark terms. Accumulation Trend Scores for retail wallets holding under 10 BTC have cratered to 0.11 and 0.05 as of March 2026. In English: small holders are distributing their Bitcoin at an aggressive clip. A score near zero means net selling. A score near one means net accumulation. Retail is about as close to zero as you can get without literally selling everything. The institutional side looks like a mirror image. Bitcoin ETFs, which launched in January 2024, have absorbed roughly $60 billion in net inflows through October 2025. Even as Bitcoin’s price dropped approximately 50% from i...