The recent fluctuations in Bitcoin's price have led to significant changes in how institutional and sovereign investors approach the market, with prominent holders moving more assets onto exchanges during market downturns.
On-chain analytics provider CryptoQuant reports
, that substantial
Bitcoin
holders—primarily institutions and sovereign funds—transferred assets to exchange wallets as Bitcoin fell below $90,000 in late November 2025. This pattern, which emerged even as the broader market declined, highlights increasing faith in Bitcoin's long-term potential despite ongoing short-term volatility.
This trend is illustrated by Texas’s recent $5 million investment in BlackRock’s
iShares Bitcoin Trust
(IBIT), a spot Bitcoin ETF, representing the first of two planned purchases. The state plans to make a second $5 million investment in self-custodied Bitcoin once its systems are ready. This approach fits into a larger effort to diversify state reserves, as permitted by legislation passed earlier in 2025 allowing Bitcoin to be held as a long-term asset. While the ETF holding is temporary, it signals a strategic shift by governments toward digital assets, following similar moves by Wisconsin and Harvard University, which
revealed a $443 million IBIT position
.
Institutional interest in Bitcoin ETFs has been mixed in recent weeks. On November 21, the sector saw net inflows of $238.4 million, ending a three-week streak of outflows. BlackRock’s
IBIT
led the recovery with $60.6 million in new investments, despite a $523 million withdrawal the day before
as reported by trading news
. Still, experts warn that these movements are more about short-term portfolio adjustments than a fundamental change in sentiment. For example, IBIT experienced $66 million in outflows over two days in late November, while Fidelity’s FBTC saw inflows, indicating that institutions are reallocating funds rather than exiting Bitcoin
according to CoinDoo analysis
. Analysts at Bitfinex attribute this trend to profit-taking by long-term investors and the unwinding of leveraged positions amid economic uncertainty, such as delays in Federal Reserve rate cuts
as noted by Cointelegraph
.
Purchases by sovereign and institutional investors continue to provide market stability. Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Co., part of the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, tripled its IBIT investment in Q3 2025, allocating $517.6 million to the fund. This reflects a global movement among sovereign wealth funds to use Bitcoin for reserve diversification, despite facing regulatory and technical hurdles
as highlighted by CryptoNews
. At the same time, Asian institutional investors have maintained steady Bitcoin inflows, in contrast to outflows from U.S. retail investors, further strengthening Bitcoin’s appeal among institutions
according to trading news
.
Technical analysis indicates that Bitcoin could find support above $84,243, with ETF-driven liquidity helping to reduce spreads and dampen volatility. Experts point out that long-term holders now make up more than 95% of ETF assets, which lessens the market’s reaction to short-term price changes. Should the Federal Reserve implement a rate cut in December, inflows may return to early-2024 levels, potentially driving Bitcoin toward the $100,000 mark by early 2026
as trading news suggests
.