Bitcoin Whales Surge 100% as Institutional Adoption Grows Amid Trade Uncertainty

Bitcoin’s institutional adoption is experiencing a surge in corporate investments, driven by increasing global uncertainty. This trend is expected to continue until a trade agreement or a controversial US spending bill is finalized. President Donald Trump has proposed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which aims to cut up to $1.6 trillion in federal spending. Trump has described this legislation as a means to significantly boost the economy and put the country on the right track. This proposal comes at a time when efforts are being made to finalize a trade agreement between the United States and China, which remains subject to final approval by both governments.

Elon Musk has criticized the spending bill, warning that it could increase the deficit to $2.5 trillion. A growing US deficit may lead to an increase in the money supply through quantitative easing (QE), a process where central banks buy bonds and pump money into the economy to encourage spending during stagnating economic conditions. Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX and chief investment officer at Maelstrom, has predicted that Bitcoin could climb to $250,000 if the US Federal Reserve pivots to QE due to growing inflationary pressures from trade tariffs.

More tariff-related uncertainty may benefit Bitcoin’s growing valuation. Lucas Outumuro, vice president of institutional DeFi at Sentora, has noted that Bitcoin has been benefiting from the deglobalization efforts led by Trump. The tariffs have created animosity between international partnerships, prompting large entities and nation states to question the safety of their wealth in the US economy. Trump unveiled reciprocal import tariffs on April 2, aimed at reducing the country’s estimated trade deficit of $1.2 trillion in goods and boosting domestic manufacturing.

The growing Bitcoin adoption from large investors has pushed Bitcoin’s realized capitalization among new whales to a record high. The metric measures the total amount of Bitcoin held by whales with at least 1,000 Bitcoin, with an average coin age below 155 days, excluding centralized exchanges and Bitcoin miner addresses. The average age of Bitcoin holders has also been decreasing, indicating that more short-term holders are gaining Bitcoin exposure. This is seen as a sign that the market is getting heated, with Bitcoin acquisitions through exchange-traded funds and other public vehicles offsetting a significant amount of Bitcoin selling pressure from long-term holders.

Led by Strike CEO Jack Mallers, efforts are being made to develop Bitcoin-native capital markets infrastructure. This infrastructure aims to allow products like lending, custody, and asset issuance to operate directly on Bitcoin rails, further integrating Bitcoin into the financial ecosystem. The increasing adoption of Bitcoin by large investors and the development of new infrastructure highlight the growing acceptance and integration of Bitcoin into the global financial system.