Bitcoin Tops $108K as Institutions Keep Buying
Bitcoin surged past $108,000 Wednesday, hitting its highest point in weeks. Oddly enough, it didn’t seem to care about the usual distractions—Middle East tensions, a sluggish stock market, or even altcoins like Ether and Solana dipping slightly later in the day.
Meanwhile, over in Washington, regulators dropped a few hints that might explain the momentum. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told the Senate Banking Committee that stablecoins aren’t just some fringe experiment anymore—they’ve “come a long way” and now fit within the traditional financial system. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but for crypto, it’s progress.
Then there’s housing. Billy Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, quietly told Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to start looking into whether Bitcoin could be used to qualify for mortgages. Pulte’s family built one of the biggest homebuilding companies in the U.S., so when he nudges the housing market, people notice.
Trump’s ETF and the Retail Exodus
Over at the NYSE, things are getting interesting. Officials are pushing for a rule change that would let them list a Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF tied directly to Trump’s Truth Social platform. If the SEC approves it, we could see it launch within 90 days—another step in Trump’s push to drag crypto deeper into mainstream finance.
But here’s the weird part: while big players are piling in, small traders are heading for the exits. Wallets holding less than 1 BTC have been selling steadily, dropping their holdings by 54,500 BTC over the past year. Meanwhile, the whales—those holding at least 1,000 BTC—have scooped up over 507,000 BTC in the same period.
The math is stark. Institutions are absorbing about seven times more Bitcoin than retail traders are selling. With only 450 new BTC mined daily post-halving, supply is getting tight. Yet unlike past bull runs, there’s no retail frenzy yet. Small holders are still cashing out, which might mean this rally has room to run.
Stablecoin Whiplash and Fragile Support
Binance saw a spike in trading volume on June 24—net taker volume crossed $100 million for the first time in weeks. Usually, that means either a wave of retail buying or a bunch of overleveraged shorts getting liquidated. But here’s the catch: it happened alongside $1.25 billion in stablecoin outflows from derivatives exchanges, the biggest since May.
Traders are also eyeing short-term holder cost basis—the average price at which recent buyers got in. Right now, it’s around $97,700, with key clusters at $106,200 (1 week–1 month holders), $95,000 (1–3 months), and $93,300 (3–6 months).
That’s a problem. If Bitcoin dips below $97K, it could trigger panic selling from nervous short-term holders. The market’s balancing on a thin line—one wrong move, and things could get messy. But for now, the big players keep buying, and the little guys keep leaving. Maybe that’s the new normal.
