Institutional Investors Concentrate Crypto Capital, Narrowing Altcoin Season Prospects

Crypto's next altcoin season may produce fewer winners as institutional investors focus on a narrower group of digital assets, according to Wintermute.

In its OTC flow report for the first half of 2026, Wintermute found that institutional counterparties generated 72% of spot flow across all tokens on its OTC desk, the highest share on record.

This represents a significant increase from 61% in the second half of 2025 and 59% in the first half of last year.

The findings suggest that future altcoin rallies could become narrower and more selective as liquidity concentrates in the assets institutions favor while activity across the market's 'long tail' weakens.