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Institutional Investors Stay Bullish on Bitcoin Heading Into 2026, Coinbase Finds

By José Oramas October 21, 2025 In Bitcoin, Coinbase, Market Analysis

Bull market bitcoin and stocks surge amidst economic uncertainty in financial landscape — Source:AdobeStock

Coinbase Institutional’s Q4 2025 report maintains a cautiously positive outlook for crypto, linking the recent crash to high leverage and thin order books.
The report highlights a supportive macro environment from the Global M2 Money Supply Index and anticipates potential Fed interest rate cuts to boost risk assets.
The firm’s survey showed 67% of investors hold a positive 3-to-6-month outlook for Bitcoin, and digital-asset treasuries remain steady BTC and ETH buyers.

Coinbase Institutional’s Q4 2025 report, produced with Glassnode, keeps a cautious-but-positive tilt for crypto into year-end shortly after the October 10 crash.

In the report, the exchange links the selloff to high leverage colliding with thin order books, then exacerbated as some venues’ auto-deleveraging constrained market-maker shorts and drained liquidity. Prices steadied into the weekend, but risk appetite stayed fragile as macro jitters resurfaced.

Moreover, Coinbase’s Global M2 Money Supply Index, which it says has led Bitcoin by about 110 days, opened Q4 in a supportive stance. The firm, however, warns of potential tightening later in the quarter, and expects two additional Federal Reserve cuts before year-end, a move it argues could pull cash from money-market funds back toward risk assets.

Investors Divided, But Overall Optimistic

The report also surveyed 124 investors, of which 67% hold a positive three-to-six-month outlook for Bitcoin heading into 2026. On the institutional side, there’s a bit of a split regarding the market cycle: 45% of institutions see late-stage bull conditions versus 27% of non-institutions.

Digital-asset treasury companies are identified as steady buyers of BTC and ETH this year. Coinbase notes their growing share of circulating supply, while cautioning on long-run business-model risks after equity underperformance in the cohort.

Tom Lee’s BitMine added 104,336 ETH to its treasury last week, boosting its holdings to about 3.03 million ETH, which is around US$12.2 billion (AU$18.8 billion).

Meanwhile, Michael Saylor’s strategy recently added 168 BTC, for US$18.8 million (AU$27 million) at US$112,051 (AU$171,962) per Bitcoin. Saylor, as is usual on Mondays, shared the news on X, stating that the firm has achieved a BTC yield of 26% YTD.

Bitcoin reclaimed US$109,000 (AU$168,950) over the weekend. At press time, BTC is trading at US$111K (AU$170K), a level deemed critical to maintain a long-form bullish setup.