The recent decline of Bitcoin below the $70,000 mark is being interpreted in contrasting ways by veteran holders and institutional investors, according to Hunter Horsley, CEO of Bitwise.
During a Friday interview with CNBC, Horsley explained that long-term holders are experiencing uncertainty, whereas institutional investors see this as a fresh opportunity. He noted that these institutions are encountering price levels they previously believed were unattainable.
Back in October, Geoff Kendrick from Standard Chartered’s digital asset research team expressed confidence that Bitcoin would not drop below $100,000 again.
Bitcoin Moves Alongside Broader Market Trends
Horsley recognized that Bitcoin’s recent downturn is unusual given the ongoing push for clearer regulations and increasing interest from institutions. Over the last 30 days, Bitcoin has fallen by 22.60%, trading at approximately $69,635 at the time this was reported on CoinMarketCap.
He described Bitcoin as currently being in a bear market and “caught up” with other macroeconomic assets because investors are liquidating all readily tradable holdings.
“At present,” he added, “Bitcoin’s price action largely mirrors other liquid assets.”
Hunter Horsley shared insights during his CNBC interview. Source: CNBC
The precious metal gold has dropped 11.43% from its record high of $5,609 reached on January 28th and was trading near $4,968 when this report was published (data via Trading Economics).
Similarly, silver experienced a significant decline of 35.95% from its peak value of $121.67 recorded on January 29th; it stood around $77.98 at publication time.
Institutional Interest Remains Robust
Despite price volatility, demand for Bitcoin remains strong among institutional buyers according to Horsley.
Bitwise oversees more than $15 billion in funds managed for institutions and recorded inflows exceeding $100 million just on Monday alone when BTC hovered near the $77K level.
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“There is substantial trading volume with active participation from both sellers and buyers,” Horsley remarked.
The curiosity among retail investors has also surged recently: Google Trends data indicates global searches for “Bitcoin” hit their highest point—scoring a perfect 100—for the week starting February 1st as prices dipped to about $60K on Tuesday—a level unseen since October last year (2024).
Additonally, BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF attracted inflows totaling approximately $231.6 million last Friday after experiencing heavy outflows earlier during an otherwise volatile week for crypto assets.
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