- Fund manager Jeff Dyment argues that worries about fading institutional demand for Bitcoin are overblown and miss the “bigger picture.”
- Institutional BTC buying comes in “cyclical waves,” not a straight line, with 51 new corporate treasuries created in H1 2025 alone.
- Options market data shows whales building bullish exposure, buying September BTC $130K calls.
In a market that often fixates on short-term price moves, Jeff Dyment, a fund manager at Saphira Group, urges investors to step back and consider the broader trend.
His thesis is straightforward but compelling: recent datapoints suggesting institutional Bitcoin demand is losing momentum amount to missing the forest for the trees.
In a note shared with CoinDesk, Dyment says concerns about dwindling institutional demand are largely rooted in a narrow, short-term view of market activity.
He acknowledges the recent slowdown in ETF and corporate purchases—for example, Michael Saylor’s strategy acquired just 16,000 BTC last month, a sharp drop from 171,000 BTC in December.
However, Dyment insists this is not evidence of a lasting decline but rather a natural pullback inside what he describes as a “cyclical wave” of institutional adoption.
“Institutional flows tend to arrive in waves rather than as a steady, linear climb,” Dyment writes.
Short-term fluctuations in spot demand are ripples on what is actually an expanding wave of institutional engagement.
To support his view, Dyment points to several notable data points.
In the first half of 2025 alone, 51 new corporate Bitcoin treasuries were formed—equal to the total number established from 2018 through 2022 combined.
That represents a striking 375% year-over-year increase in corporate Bitcoin buying.
Publicly traded companies now collectively hold 848,902 BTC, roughly 4% of total Bitcoin supply.
In Q2 2025 alone, these firms added 131,000 BTC to their balance sheets.
ETF Factor: a controlled-capital tidal wave
Dyment also highlights the explosive growth of spot Bitcoin ETFs as further proof of deepening institutional involvement.
BlackRock’s IBIT fund, which has become the largest such vehicle globally, now holds an extraordinary 699,000 BTC—more than 3.3% of total supply—after becoming the fastest-growing ETF in history.
Collectively, U.S. spot ETFs have accumulated roughly 1.25 million BTC, or about 6% of total supply, in the 18 months since launch, Dyment notes in his memo.
The rapid aggregation by these regulated investment vehicles underscores a structural shift in how institutional capital interacts with Bitcoin.
Whales positioning for upside as market waits for a spark
Dyment’s thesis finds resonance in the derivatives market. In a recent note, Singapore-based QCP Capital observed that large “whale” investors continue to build bullish exposure.
They reportedly bought September BTC $130,000 call options and hold sizable positions in 115,000/140,000 call spreads—bets on higher future prices.
“Vols remain pinned near historical lows, but a decisive breach of $110K could trigger renewed volatility demand,” QCP wrote on Monday.
So while market skeptics point to stagnant spot flows and a thin Bitcoin mempool (the backlog of unconfirmed transactions) as signs of fatigue, Dyment argues these are surface-level ripples.
Beneath them, he believes, institutional inflows are steadily growing. Wall Street, with trillions under management, is thirsty for crypto exposure. That demand will not arrive in a straight line.
Broader market moves provide context
The above analysis comes amid a backdrop of volatile but resilient Bitcoin price action and mixed signals from traditional markets.
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BTC: Bitcoin fell 1.02% between July 6 at 22:00 and July 7 at 21:00, testing key support at $107,519.64 amid heavy selling before launching a V-shaped recovery from roughly $107,800. On-chain data shows strong support clusters at $106,738 and $98,566 held by 1.68 million addresses, according to CoinDesk Research’s technical analysis bot.
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ETH: Ethereum rose 1.67% amid choppy trading, swinging nearly 3% between $2,529 and $2,604, with support around $2,530 remaining intact. Institutional inflows exceeded $1.1 billion, and volume above average signaled both buying spikes and subsequent selling.
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Gold: Gold dipped on a stronger dollar but bounced as safe-haven demand tied to tariffs bolstered expectations for central bank buying and de-dollarization, fueling forecasts toward $4,000.
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S&P 500: Stocks declined on Monday after President Trump announced new tariffs on imports from seven countries, sending the S&P 500 down 0.79% to 6,229.98.
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Nikkei 225: Asia-Pacific markets were mostly higher despite the tariff announcements, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 up 0.36% as duties up to 40% were outlined for countries including South Korea, Indonesia, and Thailand.