Record $1B Bitcoin Outflow Suggests Sizzling Institutional Demand
The world’s third-largest cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, saw its largest Bitcoin outflow of 2025 on May 9 of 9,739 BTC—worth over $1 billion. The record single-day outflow suggests quickly accelerating institutional demand for Bitcoin, said Bitwise head of European research André Dragosch.
“Institutional demand for bitcoin is picking up pace,” Dragosch posted on X (previously Twitter) on May 13.
This surge aligns with the price of Bitcoin trading at over $103,600, which suggests market strength in the midst of shifting macroeconomic forces.
Relaxed US-China Tensions Support Market Sentiment
The Bitcoin surge came within days of the White House announcing a 90-day postponement of additional tariffs between the US and China. This relieved fears of renewed trade tensions and improved investor sentiment in both conventional and cryptocurrency markets.
- Nansen’s lead research analyst, Aurelie Barthere, stated the tariff timeout reduces the likelihood of a “sudden re-escalation,” fostering broader risk-on behavior.
Institutional Buyings May Trigger Supply Shock in Bitcoin
A growing trend of institutional and corporate Bitcoin buying could trigger a supply shock—a market condition where growing demand meets diminishing available supply, causing prices to skyrocket.
Dragosch pointed out that corporate buyers alone purchased nearly 200,000 BTC in 2025 alone—nearly the fresh annual new amount of Bitcoin available—beating all US spot Bitcoin ETFs combined by a factor of four.
Bitcoin Illiquid Supply Highest Ever
Glassnode data shows that Bitcoin’s “illiquid supply”—tokens in wallets that see little spendable activity—is at a fresh all-time high of 14 million BTC. This reflects long-term holder accumulation as well as continued drain of exchange liquidity.
Although there is a bullish long-term scenario, Dragosch cautioned that short-term corrections are likely due to overheated investor sentiment. The underlying trend, however, remains that institutional buyers are slowly removing BTC from circulation—constricting supply for anticipated future gains.
