Institutional bitcoin treasuries are at an all-time high, but new on‑chain data shows the average buy size has plunged — a shift that could make recent price gains less durable.
Aggregate treasury holdings now exceed 840,000 BTC, led by a single firm, Strategy, with about 637,000 BTC. Yet CryptoQuant data tracked by market researchers shows a sharp change beneath that headline: in August Strategy bought only 1,200 BTC per transaction on average and other firms averaged 343 BTC — both roughly 86% lower than their early‑2025 peaks.
The activity mix is striking: transaction counts remain elevated (53 deals in June, 46 in August), but each deal now moves far less bitcoin. Strategy, for example, acquired just 3,700 BTC in August versus a peak month of 134,000 BTC last year; other treasury firms dropped to 14,800 BTC from highs near 66,000 BTC. That suggests treasuries are active but reluctant to deploy large blocks of capital.
Why this matters: institutional accumulation was a key driver of BTC’s rally earlier in the year. CoinDesk data showed institutions were absorbing roughly 3,100 BTC per day against around 450 BTC mined, creating a roughly 6:1 demand‑to‑supply imbalance. If that large‑scale buying eases and is replaced by smaller, sporadic purchases, price momentum could become more vulnerable to shocks.
Still, the treasury sector is expanding in breadth if not in per‑deal size: Bitwise reported 28 new treasury firms formed in July and August that together added more than 140,000 BTC to the market. Meanwhile, Asia is emerging as a new growth front — Taiwan’s Sora Ventures has launched a $1 billion BTC treasury fund with an initial $200 million commitment to seed regional entrants.
Bottom line: record holdings show institutional commitment to bitcoin as an asset class, but the collapse in average transaction size signals more cautious execution, possible liquidity constraints, or shifting risk appetite. Investors should weigh these dynamics alongside macro drivers and ETF flows; lower per‑deal volume increases the risk that continued price gains will require broader participation rather than concentrated treasury buying.
Source: CoinDesk. Read the original coverage for full details.