If you’ve been following Bitcoin this year, you’ve probably observed that it’s taken a bit of a breather. After reaching its record price of a bit over $126K in October of last year, the flagship crypto went through several waves of sell-offs in the months that followed that weakened its price to the point where it sank to $60K before starting to climb to the $80K range where it now trades.
The drop was, for some, a reason to step back, but others saw it as an opportunity to buy Bitcoin at a lower price. But the price only tells part of what’s going on.
One would think that Wall Street would pull back from Bitcoin during times of uncertainty, yet the commitment shown this year contradicts this belief.
A Bumpier Year Than Usual
Price swings are nothing new for crypto observers because they’re part of crypto’s personality. However, Bitcoin has displayed quite an unusual pattern this year.
Its overall annualized volatility has fallen significantly to around 46%, down from 80% or more in past years, which in theory should mean that the price moves more calmly than it used to. In practice, though, Bitcoin has had more days of sudden, sharp swings in 2026 than during the 2018 bear market.
Wall Street’s growing presence is one of the reasons for this. In the early days of retail-driven trading, prices were moved by individual investors who’d react mainly to hype and headlines, which made big swings a common thing.
But over time, financial institutions started to step into the picture and the dynamics gradually changed. Their larger flows added stability to the market and smoothed out the impact of the impulsive reactions of smaller traders. At the same time, they brought Bitcoin closer to traditional markets.
If you’ve been following the news, you probably noticed that many institutions tend to react in unison when some major economic news breaks, like unexpected interest rate decisions or drops in tech stocks that signal it’s time to shift to a “risk-off” approach.
Microsoft’s weaker-than-expected earnings this year triggered a wave of sell-offs in important brands that eventually spilled over into crypto.
When an event of this magnitude occurs, many financial institutions trim their BTC holdings and trigger a chain reaction among those who bet on Bitcoin with leverage as falling prices force them out of their positions, and the effect keeps building.
Yet for all the turbulence that hit the market this year, Bitcoin adoption held steady. In some areas, it even picked up. A clear example comes from Bitcoin ETFs, which have evolved to become one of the most important channels for new flows into Bitcoin.
ETFs Kept the Money Coming
Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) launched at the beginning of 2024 in the U.S., with eleven such funds getting the green light at once. They allow anyone to invest in Bitcoin through a brokerage account, offering exposure to its price without having to buy or store the coins themselves – no exchanges and wallets needed.
This was one of the biggest milestones in crypto, and almost three years later, they’ve become the largest holders of the coin. In late September, they received a whopping $999MN in inflows in just a single day and marked the largest daily inflow since Bitcoin hit its all-time high in October last year.
Even if the trend didn’t last and headlines are now talking about ETF outflows again, the bigger picture hasn’t changed too much. The total amount of BTC in these funds remains close to where it was in the spring.
Companies Are Stocking Up Too
An increasing number of public companies are adjusting their balance sheet strategies by making Bitcoin part of their reserves. When MicroStrategy swapped part of its cash reserves for Bitcoin over six years ago, many saw the move as an odd experiment from an atypical company.
Since then, the number of companies that followed suit has gradually grown, exceeding 150 at the time of writing. According to a recent report from CoinGecko, almost 9,1% of the entire supply of Bitcoin is held by public companies and institutions on the balance sheets, which totals around 1.91MN BTC.
This is a big jump from the fewer than 40 companies that held it at the end of 2021. And who’s now at the helm of the pack? You’ve probably guessed it because it’s one of the names that pops up most in the news thanks to its commitment to Bitcoin: Strategy. It’s the very same pioneer that started the trend and dropped the “Micro” as part of a rebrand in 2025. It accounts for almost ⅔ of all public corporate BTC holdings.
Other huge holders include Metaplanet, MARA Holdings, Twenty One Capital, and tech titans like Block and Tesla.
The list of holders doesn’t stop at software companies: today, exchanges, miners, and even businesses that have little to do with crypto hold Bitcoin as part of their reserves to some extent. Not every company buys constantly, of course. But buying in large batches and then pausing for months is a common practice.
Individuals still hold most of the BTC, but this is beginning to change.
Interestingly, it’s not companies that hold the largest share of Bitcoin. According to estimates from Bitbo and River, it’s individual investors who hold ⅔ of all the coins that’ll ever be on the market, meaning around 14MN BTC.
This concentration leaves Wall Street chasing coins that current owners may have no plans to sell anytime soon. The price that companies may have to pay to acquire Bitcoin could keep climbing if long-term holders hold their ground.
Next in line are companies, ETFs, governments, and the wallet of the developer credited with Bitcoin’s creation, Satoshi Nakamoto. The balance, however, is starting to tip. In 2025, retail investors sold a net of 696BTC. Institutional demand stays high, with companies buying over 1MN BTC that same year.
If 2026 has proven anything so far, it’s that Bitcoin’s mood swings aren’t scaring Wall Street away.
