Institutional Investors Dominate Crypto Market, Narrowing Altcoin Rallies

Crypto market maker Wintermute has released its OTC flow report for the first half of 2026, revealing that institutional investors are increasingly concentrating their activity in a narrower group of digital assets.

The report found that institutional counterparties generated 72% of spot flow across all tokens on Wintermute's OTC desk, up from 61% in the second half of 2025 and 59% in the first half of last year. This concentration of activity could mean that future altcoin rallies will become narrower and more selective.

Liquidity is concentrating in the assets institutions favor while activity across the market's 'long tail' weakens, according to Wintermute. The firm found that institutional activity following a surge in a token's price and volume faded after roughly one day, compared to retail activity which typically remained elevated for about three days.