The crypto market is splitting in two.

Institutional and retail investors are taking increasingly different paths, with institutional players anchoring themselves in bitcoin BTC and Ethereum’s ether ETH while retail investors pour into altcoins and memecoins, according to a mid-year report from crypto trading firm Wintermute.

Analyzing over-the-counter spot trading volumes, institutional trading volumes with the two largest tokens held steady at 67%, likely backed by ETF inflows and structured accumulation vehicles, the report said. Meanwhile, retail investors dropped their BTC and ETH exposure from 46% to 37%, shifting capital toward newer, more speculative tokens.

«This divergence isn’t a temporary thing; It’s the sign that we are experiencing a more mature, sophisticated and specialized crypto market,» said Evgeny Gaevoy, CEO and founder of Wintermute.

«Investors are no longer chasing the same trend,» he added. «Institutions are treating crypto as a macro asset, while retail traders continue to gravitate to innovation.»

Overall, traditional finance (TradFi) firms were the fastest-growing cohort in OTC trading volumes, growing 32% year-over-year. That growth was being fueled by regulatory developments like the U.S. GENIUS Act and the EU’s ongoing MiCA rollout, which have given larger firms more confidence to participate, the report said.

Retail brokers also saw strong activity, with a 21% rise in volume over the same period. Meanwhile, crypto-native firms dialed back, down 5%.

OTC options volume jumped 412% compared to the first half of 2024, as institutions embraced derivatives for hedging and yield generation, the report noted. Meanwhile, Contracts for Difference (CFDs) doubled in variety, offering access to less liquid tokens in a more capital-efficient way.

Wintermute said its own OTC desk saw spot trading volumes grow at more than twice the pace of centralized exchanges, signaling a shift toward more discreet, large-volume trading favored by traditional finance.

The firm noted that memecoin activity has become more fragmented. While overall retail trading in memecoins declined, the number of tokens traded by individual users doubled, signaling a broadening appetite for micro-cap assets in the long tail of the market.

With that, legacy names like dogecoin DOGE and shiba inu SHIB lost ground to a growing list of niche tokens such as bonk BONK, dogwifhat WIF and popcat POPCAT, the report noted.

Looking ahead to the second half of 2025, Wintermute analysts said to keep an eye on spot dogecoin ETF filings with spot with a final regulatory decision expected by October.

«The outcome could significantly impact the retail market and set a precedent for other alternative assets,» the report said.

Internet Computer (ICP) showed signs of resilience in a turbulent 24-hour window, climbing as high as $5.6781 before consolidating just below the $5.50 mark. Despite late-session selling, the token remains poised for potential recovery amid ongoing volatility.

Starting July 13 at 17:00 UTC, ICP began a steady ascent, reaching its session high of $5.6781 early on July 14. This rally was underpinned by a significant increase in volume, topping 800,000 units during its most aggressive upward leg between 02:00 and 05:00 UTC. Bulls briefly tested resistance above $5.67, a level that had historically capped upside momentum.

However, intense selling pressure set in shortly after the peak, driving prices downward in a rapid reversal. During the hour ending at 16:05 UTC on July 14, the token dipped 1% to $5.45, decisively breaking through the $5.48 support threshold. A volume spike near 50,000 units during the 15:48-15:49 UTC interval further confirmed heightened bearish activity.

Despite the pullback, ICP has found near-term stability in a lower trading channel between $5.44 and $5.46.

Technical Analysis Highlights

• ICP traded within a $0.28 range from $5.40 (low) to $5.68 (high), marking a 5% intraday spread.
• Price spiked from $5.47 to $5.68 between 02:00–05:00 UTC on July 14, amid 800K+ volume.
• Resistance hardened near $5.67–$5.68, curbing bullish continuation attempts.
• Final-hour decline from $5.50 to $5.45 showed a swift 1% retreat from 15:06–16:05 UTC.
• Key support at $5.48 was broken on high volume, signaling potential bearish continuation.
• Notable sell-off occurred between 15:48–15:49 UTC with nearly 50K units traded.
• Consolidation range has formed between $5.44–$5.46 as of July 14 at 16:35 UTC.

Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.

The U.S. House of Representatives’ so-called Crypto Week is steaming toward mid-week votes on two foundational pieces of legislation that would push the industry’s status forward significantly in the U.S., including what amounts to a final congressional action on regulating stablecoins.

While that last necessary vote on the stablecoin bill known as the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act would send it to President Donald Trump’s desk to be signed into law, it’s the bigger bill — the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act — that is the top concern of the crypto industry.

That legislation to establish a regulatory framework for U.S. crypto activity is expected to come up late afternoon on Wednesday for its floor vote, industry lobbyists have been advised, which would send the Clarity Act over to the Senate for its consideration. The House has made it that far before on a market structure bill for digital assets, but the Senate was immobile on the issue during the previous congressional session. This time, key senators are making promises to complete work on this issue quickly.

The Clarity Act is widely expected to pass with a heavy bipartisan vote. Its predecessor, the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21) drew 71 Democrats when it passed. There’s tremendous pressure on the sector and among the Republican lawmakers leading the charge to garner more than that for Clarity, so it arrives in the Senate with high momentum.

While Senator Tim Scott, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, has said the Clarity Act will act as a template for his chamber’s work, crypto lobbyists have been told that the lawmakers there may not hew closely to its language, suggesting a coming period of negotiation.

On Thursday morning, according to people familiar with the planning, the House is tentatively expected to vote on GENIUS, the bill to set up guardrails for issuers of stablecoins, such as Circle’s USDC and Tether’s USDT. That bill already passed the Senate with a wide bipartisan approval, and House lawmakers agreed to take it as-is, meaning its course would finish soon on Trump’s desk if it clears this last legislative step.

The series of votes amounts to «the most consequential week yet for the digital asset industry on Capitol Hill,» according to Blockchain Association Senior Director of Government Relations Jessica Martinez.

Before all this vote timing can be set in stone, the House Rules Committee is meeting on Monday afternoon to work out the plan. The Rules panel sets the procedures for how each piece of legislation will be handled on the House floor.

If Crypto Week follows the expected course, it’ll end with a crypto milestone for Congress, passing the first-ever major crypto regulatory bill. Once GENIUS is law, the industry will focus full-time on market structure, though it’s unclear how much work will need to be done to reach agreement between the House and Senate. Senator Scott said the Senate will be done with its work by Sept. 30.

«Instead of taking up Clarity, we think the Senate will put forth its own bill, but not before September,» said Ian Katz, a policy analyst at Capital Alpha, though he doubts the final effort will be completed this year.

Also this week, the House was prepared to pass another bill that would ban a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC). Republican lawmakers have made the case against the Federal Reserve issuing a digital dollar that they’ve said might compete with U.S.-issued stablecoins and could give the government financial surveillance abilities over citizens. While the federal government hasn’t pursued a CBDC in any significant way, the legislation would cut off an ability to do so in the future. The House is expected to vote on this bill on Wednesday, though it’s unclear what its fate may be in the Senate, which doesn’t yet have a counterpart bill.