Bitcoin's Biggest Buyers Have Gone Quiet

Bitcoin traded sideways in October as the Coinbase premium turned negative, but the speakers disagreed on how much that signal mattered: Brett put it on his “deliberately ignore” list. Strategy did not buy Bitcoin that week, while Strive made a large purchase. US spot Bitcoin ETF flows were mixed, with inflows in the latest session discussed, outflows the day before, and inflows the day before that. The speakers said ETF flows tend to follow Bitcoin’s price, while trending upward over time.

Coinbase’s institutional push appears to be moving beyond technology trials. Brett said seven of the world’s largest banks have onboarded or are preparing to use Coinbase infrastructure. A Coinbase-Citibank partnership lets Citi customers view cash in virtual accounts and convert it to USDC, aiming to speed up and reduce the cost of international corporate payments. Banks are testing Coinbase systems alongside existing ones, and a Coinbase representative said the company had answered 3,500 questions across 26 bank requests for information or proposals. The speakers described the shift as moving from testing technology to building businesses with it.

Banks are exploring payment infrastructure partly to protect their corporate banking business, while crypto companies can move faster despite regulatory uncertainty. One speaker said inquiries and RFPs resumed after the Clarity Act failed, though another said uncertainty had kept some organizations on the sidelines. Within 48 hours of the bill’s failure, Atkins announced a tokenization pathway. Scott expects exchanges to offer tokenized stocks and securities, potentially including capital instruments such as Saylor’s STRC. Tokenization could draw wealth away from banks’ advisory services, but effective integration could also bring activity back under banks’ umbrella.

Coinbase is positioning itself as infrastructure that can serve banks as well as compete with them in retail, provided institutional information is compartmentalized. Brent said the company is agnostic about stablecoins and would support banks’ white-label coins alongside other digital assets. Coinbase plans to list Ripple’s RLUSD, which Brent said would reduce friction in using it and demonstrate that stance alongside Coinbase’s relationship with Circle and USDC. The speakers connected payments, tokenized stocks, ETFs, neobanks, and 24-hour trading as changes enabled by shared infrastructure. About 26 companies, including Intel, Oracle, and IBM, reportedly objected to OKX and ICE tokenized-stock plans; the innovation exemption has not officially become a rule, so companies may wait.

The discussion distinguished cash-flowing companies that hold Bitcoin from digital-asset treasury firms whose model depended on selling shares above the value of their assets. The latter approach was described as unsustainable, particularly as Bitcoin yield fell from 5% to 3%, or as low as 1% for less risk-on strategies. Companies with long-term Bitcoin holdings but no operating income could face pressure if Bitcoin prices and carry returns fall. Standard Asset Company’s proposed UAE strategy pairs real estate with Bitcoin and includes $1.5 billion in the plan. Its portfolio was described as $4.5 billion in performing, cash-flowing real estate; Coinbase Asset Management handles the Bitcoin-yield strategy, and Coinbase custody holds the Bitcoin. The manager can pause the strategy and resume when yields reach 5–7%, but tokenization does not make illiquid real estate suitable for day trading.

Bitcoin miners have been selling holdings to fund AI data centers, which one speaker said currently offer a better way to make money. Marathon Digital sent 4,860 Bitcoin, valued at $4 million, out of tracked wallets in October. Brent argued that adoption could leave retail token prices flat even as crypto technology becomes infrastructure for Wall Street, which he sees as a major win. The host said Bitcoin had recently outperformed the S&P 500 and described its different performance as potentially useful in a portfolio, calling it uncorrelated and a “random walk”; he cited a move from $60,000 to $88,000 in weeks while other markets went sideways. He also cited reports of an approximately 800% jump in Brazilian Bitcoin volume around election-day currency concerns, describing the increase as 865%, while Binance’s USDT/BRL market tripled.