Key Takeaways
- Ethereum is becoming increasingly scarce on OTC platforms, indicating rising institutional demand.
- Wintermute’s OTC spot trading volumes are now outpacing centralized exchanges.
- Retail investor exposure to BTC and ETH dropped, with growing interest in altcoins and memecoins.
As regulatory clarity improves and new investment vehicles emerge, institutions increasingly consolidate around significant assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Meanwhile, retail traders are shifting toward riskier, lower-cap tokens and memecoins.
Wintermute highlights how this split influences trading volumes and market structure, particularly in the over-the-counter (OTC) space, where institutional demand appears to be gaining momentum.
Institutionals Double Down on ETH as OTC Demand Surges
Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy has highlighted a growing Ethereum (ETH) scarcity on OTC trading platforms, signaling strong institutional demand.
Institutions are also leveraging derivatives for hedging and yield generation. “This divergence isn’t temporary—it’s the sign of a more mature, sophisticated, and specialized crypto market,” Gaevoy shared in a report.
Institutions are increasingly anchoring their crypto strategies around Bitcoin (BTC) and ETH, treating them as macro assets in portfolios—a shift supported by ETF inflows and structured accumulation vehicles.
Over-the-counter options volume jumped 412% in the first half of 2025, and Wintermute’s OTC spot trading volumes outpaced centralized exchanges.
Traditional finance firms emerged as the fastest-growing segment. OTC volumes rose 32% year-over-year, driven by regulatory clarity from laws like the U.S. GENIUS Act and the EU’s MiCA rollout.
Retail Investors Pivot to Memecoins and Micro-Caps
While institutions consolidate around BTC and ETH, retail investors increasingly favor speculative altcoins and memecoins.
Retail exposure to BTC and ETH dropped from 46% to 37%, as traders chase high-risk, high-reward opportunities in newer tokens.
Wintermute reports that although overall retail trading in memecoins declined, the number of tokens traded per user doubled, suggesting rising interest in micro-cap assets.
Legacy memecoins like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu are losing traction to a growing wave of niche, fragmented tokens.
Retail broker volumes rose 21% year-over-year, while crypto-native firms saw a 5% drop.
This divergence underscores the evolving nature of retail behavior—dynamic, risk-on, and innovation-focused—distinct from the institutional playbook.
Giuseppe Ciccomascolo began his career as an investigative journalist in Italy, where he contributed to both local and national newspapers, focusing on various financial sectors.
Upon relocating to London, he worked as an analyst for Fitch's CapitalStructure and later as a Senior Reporter for Alliance News. In 2017, Giuseppe transitioned to covering cryptocurrency-related news, producing documentaries and articles on Bitcoin and other emerging digital currencies. He also played a pivotal role in establishing the academy for a cryptocurrency exchange website. Crypto remained his primary area of interest throughout his tenure as a writer for ThirdFloor.
