With the Bitcoin market looking lackluster, I heard that the inflow pace of institutional money is surprisingly solid. The head of major digital asset platform iConnections points this out; when you look at the movements between fund managers and investors, the atmosphere has clearly been changing over the past few years.

There was the FTX collapse in 2022 and the subsequent period of turmoil in the crypto-asset market. Back then, things were truly frozen. But starting around last year, it seems the mood of “wanting to move funds” and “actually wanting to invest” has returned. Washington’s regulatory posture becoming more favorable toward crypto assets is also likely helping drive this trend.

This year’s events saw more than 75 digital asset funds participate, and about 750 meetings were held between institutional investors and allocators. This is on the same level as the high-interest era in 2022 before the FTX failure. If about one-quarter of the limited partners on the platform show interest in digital asset strategies, that means crypto is no longer viewed as a peripheral allocation—it’s being recognized as a well-established sub-allocation category.

Family offices seem to be especially active. In crypto hub regions such as Dubai, Singapore, and Switzerland, pressure is increasing for conventional financial advisors to pitch digital assets to wealthy clients.

That said, Bitcoin’s footing is still weak. It’s currently trading in the $77,800s and is down sharply since the start of the year. Even so, it’s interesting that institutional interest hasn’t cooled. Allocators see digital asset managers as getting very close to “institutional legitimacy.” Bitcoin has already crossed that line, while altcoins are still on the way.

However, the biggest challenge appears to be the regulatory framework. Large investors are in a fiduciary role; they’re holding other people’s assets, not their own money. No matter how attractive a category is, they won’t make a full-fledged capital allocation until they can explain to their boards that they are approaching it safely.

Even the tone of the discussions has clearly changed. In 2022, there were debates about whether crypto assets were real or scams. Now, those kinds of conversations don’t come up anymore.

In fact, institutions that were traditionally cautious are starting to enter as well. Some foundations have begun investing in Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs. It’s a cautious approach—adding modest exposure rather than rebuilding the entire portfolio—but it’s still a symbolic move. It’s probably because many allocators expect stock-market returns to be more modest going forward.

However, allocators treat Bitcoin as “a fairly risky asset” rather than as a store of value. When the market is under stress, Bitcoin tends not to move like gold; instead, it often shows correlation with equities.

Direct token purchases by institutional investors are still rare, and most activity goes through ETFs or fund structures. A common pattern is that allocators leave specific coin selection to the GP (General Partner).

What stands out is that crypto companies themselves are investing in raising awareness. At this year’s events, BitGo, Galaxy Digital, Ripple, and Blockstream participated as top sponsors, and the number of sponsoring companies has increased significantly. You can feel how serious they are about the institutional market.