Despite significant bitcoin accumulation by U.S. exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and companies like Strategy (MSTR), broader market demand for the leading crypto asset has contracted sharply, effectively offsetting potential price gains and preventing new all-time highs, according to a July 3, 2025, analysis by Cryptoquant researchers.
Institutional Bitcoin Buys Can’t Offset Market-Wide Demand Slump, Cryptoquant Study Finds
Cryptoquant’s latest institutional insights report, published on cryptoquant.com, details that while headline purchases by spot bitcoin ETFs and corporate treasuries like MSTR continue, their pace has decelerated markedly compared to the peak in late 2024.
Specifically, the research shows ETF purchases over a 30-day window fell from 86,000 BTC on Dec. 7, 2024, to just 40,000 BTC by early July 2025, a 53% decline. MSTR’s purchases dropped even more drastically, plummeting 90% from a peak of 171,000 Bitcoin to 16,000 bitcoin over the same comparative period.
Crucially, Cryptoquant analysts emphasize that these institutional purchases represent only a portion of the total spot market demand for bitcoin. At the peak of demand growth on Dec. 7, 2024, ETF and MSTR demand accounted for 33% of the total 771,000 BTC demand growth recorded over 30 days, underscoring the existence of larger, less observable bitcoin demand sources.
The critical factor hindering a price surge, according to Cryptoquant’s onchain data, is a significant contraction in this broader spot demand. Over the last thirty days leading up to the report, overall bitcoin demand contracted by 895,000 bitcoin. This substantial decline has effectively neutralized the positive price impact that would typically be expected from ongoing institutional accumulation.
The annual demand picture reinforces this trend. Cryptoquant‘s data indicates apparent demand contracted annually by 857,000 bitcoin. This contraction more than offsets the combined expansion from ETF purchases (+377,000 BTC) and MSTR purchases (+371,000 BTC) over the same yearly period.
The researchers at cryptoquant.com conclude that while spot bitcoin ETF and MSTR purchases remain a net positive for BTC’s price, they are insufficient alone to drive prices to new all-time highs. Sustained price rallies require overall demand expansion, which is currently lacking. The net demand growth for bitcoin is slowing, resulting in consolidation rather than a breakout, as reported by Cryptoquant’s analysts.
