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In the first half of 2026, institutional investors accounted for 72% of spot trading volume on the Wintermute over-the-counter (OTC) platform, setting a record for the cryptocurrency market maker since tracking this indicator. According to the company's OTC traffic report, this proportion is up from 61% in the second half of 2025 and 59% in the first half of 2025.
Wintermute said that liquidity is concentrated in tokens favored by institutions, while the activity of market long-tail small-cap assets has weakened. The company said that this trend may lead to a narrowing of the range of future growth in the altcoin market, with the increase concentrated on a few assets rather than spreading widely.
Decreased number of institutional trading tokens, faster flow of funds
From the first half of 2024 to the first half of 2026, the number of unique tokens traded by Wintermute institutional counterparties increased by 24%. During the same period, the number of unique tokens traded by retail customers increased by 76%, indicating that outside the institutional circle, retail demand for small-cap assets is broader.
The report found that the heat of institutional activity subsided in about a day after token prices and transaction volume surged. Retail investors usually remain active after a similar price surge for about three days.
The difference in the duration of activity between the two groups after price surges is crucial to market structure. When institutional funds quickly exit the market, if retail participation cannot fill the gap, those tokens that have risen due to the inflow of institutional funds may have difficulty maintaining their prices.
Other data sources also show the same trend
Wintermute's findings are consistent with results from other data sources. CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju said on June 20 that the traditional model of rotating Bitcoin (BTC) profits to small-cap crypto assets has basically stopped, and the volume of bitcoin-denominated altcoin trading pairs is close to the lowest level since 2021.
Kaiko reported in July 2025 that the trading volume of the top ten altcoins accounted for 63% of the total trading volume of all altcoins, compared with approximately 50% at the beginning of 2025. According to the latest data, the market value of the top ten non-stable coins altcoins also accounts for approximately 80.5% of the total market value of non-Bitcoin and non-stable coins.
Andrei Grachev, managing partner of DEM Labs, said on March 15 that too many tokens are competing for a limited capital pool, while institutional funds are still concentrated on Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH) and tokenized real-world assets. Wintermute's report, along with these independent data points, paints a market picture: the widespread rise in altcoins is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain.
