Trading data suggests retail traders aren't behind bitcoin's recent rally

Bitcoin has been on a tear, but it doesn't look like retail traders are driving the action, according to data from market making firm B2C2. 

The firm, which has begun circulating a new weekly note to clients with analysis of the market, said overall the market has recently been "moderately biased to the buy-side." At the time of writing, bitcoin was trading at $57,257, up more than 40% from its lows at the end of September. Ether, meanwhile, is up more than 28% from its lows in September. 

Still, not everyone is buying the ongoing rally in crypto, B2C2 shows. 

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"More interesting, however, is the fact that crypto exchanges continue to be the notable outlier, as the only category net selling overall, implying that this move may be driven primarily by institutional money, with retail on the sidelines," the firm said.

Crypto exchanges, which have millions of retail clients, were skewed 57.4% to the sell side from October 3 to the October 10, while OTC desks were buyers of crypto, skewed 54.8%. 

 

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Frank Chaparro is Host of The Scoop podcast and Director of Special Projects. He also writes a biweekly newsletter. Chaparro started his career at Business Insider, where he specialized in the intersection of digital assets and Wall Street, market structure, and financial technology. Soon after joining Business Insider out of Fordham University, Chaparro was interviewing top finance and tech executives, including billionaire Mark Cuban, “Flash Boys” star Brad Katsuyama, Cboe Global Markets CEO Ed Tilly, and New York Stock Exchange President Tom Farley. In 2018, he become a sought after reporter in the crypto world, interviewing luminaries such as Tyler Winklevoss, the cofounder of Gemini, Jeremy Allaire, the CEO of Circle, and Fundstrat head Tom Lee. For inquiries or tips, email [email protected].