Institutional investors have been increasing their bets in Bitcoin for a while now. Even big banks such as Morgan Stanley have introduced funds through which they provide their clients with exposure to the crypto market. Bitcoin has long been the digital asset of choice for institutional investors given its track record of outperformance. However, the tides look to be changing as big money turns its attention to altcoins.
Bitcoin Losing Steam
A new report from CryptoCompare shows that institutional interest in Bitcoin had dropped significantly in the month of November. Bitcoin assets under management (AUM) took a hit as the digital asset recorded losses not seen since July. This makes it one of the largest pullback months for the year 2021. Total BTC AUM fell 9.5% to $48 billion this month.
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This pullback showed a lack of interest from institutional investors who have mostly taken a bullish stance on the digital asset this year. For Bitcoin, November came with terrible turns as the price had crumbled along with interest. After hitting an all-time high of $69K, the asset had taken major hits that saw its price beaten down below $55,000.
BTC trading at $56,000 | Source: BTCUSDon TradingView.com
Bitcoin’s lack of interest from big money had also adversely affected total crypto AUM. Across the market, total digital asset AUM had also dropped 5.5% to $70 billion this month, according to the report.
Trading figures for Bitcoin had also plummeted for the month of November. Bitcoin funds across the space saw declining figures to varying degrees with Grayscale Bitcoin Trust recording the largest decline in the market. The trust had taken a beating that saw its daily volumes drop 25% to $289 million, alongside the share of trust product volume which dropped from 63% the previous month to 51% for the month of November.
Altcoins Pick Up The Slack
While BTC suffered from low interest, institutional investors seemed to have found a new favorite in the market; altcoins. Cryptocurrencies that are not Bitcoin are referred to as altcoins and big money has turned its attention to this blossoming market.
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Trading volumes had plummeted across the market given how shaky the market had been. Along with Bitcoin, trading volumes for all digital assets had dropped 13% to an average of $732 million per day. However, despite trading volumes for all crypto assets investments taking a hit, altcoins had maintained momentum and secured the most gains for investors.
Etheruem’s AUM grew 5.4% for the month of November to a total of $16.6 billion. Other altcoins were not left behind as Litecoin and Solana also recorded great gains for the month. Grayscale’s LTCN, which is a Litecoin-based product, had returned 14.9%, while 21Shares ASOL, a Solana-based product, saw 22% gains in the same time period.
Featured image from RJP LLP, chart from TradingView.com