Wall Street Deepens Control of Crypto Market, Derivatives and ETFs Reshaping Trading Landscape

August 5th, according to Bloomberg, Wintermute's report shows that in the first half of 2026, institutional investors accounted for 72% of the spot trading volume on its OTC platform, up from 59% a year ago. Despite the overall weakening trading volume in the crypto market, hedge funds and asset management companies are gradually replacing retail investors as the main source of market liquidity.

Wintermute analysts stated that the crypto market is shifting towards an institutionally driven structure, with increasing capital concentration. Derivatives are playing a larger role in expressing risk exposure, and secondary market trading of tokenized assets is also beginning to scale up. Institutions are increasingly gaining exposure through derivatives, structured products, and ETFs rather than directly purchasing tokens.

In addition to BTC and ETH, the volume of altcoin options on Wintermute's OTC platform has more than doubled since the second half of 2025, but liquidity is concentrated in fewer tokens. Over the past two years, the variety of tokens traded by professional counterparties has increased by 24%, while the variety traded by retail investors has grown by 76% during the same period, indicating that institutions are more inclined towards higher liquidity assets.

Bitcoin has fallen by about 50% from its peak above $126,000 in October 2025, but the decline has been more gradual compared to previous crypto winters. Stephen Coltman, Head of Macro at 21Shares, stated that the trading behavior of crypto assets is now closer to other asset classes; the market may be approaching a bottom, but confirmation will only be possible in hindsight.