Bitcoin’s sharp rise to $93,000 this April is being largely driven by institutional investors rather than retail flows into exchange-traded funds (ETFs), according to John D’Agostino of Coinbase Institutional in an interview with CNBC.

The recent surge, which began in early April, has been propelled by institutional players—especially large investors and sovereign wealth funds—who have been quietly accumulating Bitcoin with their “patient pools of capital.” In contrast, retail investors have been pulling funds from Bitcoin ETFs, leading D’Agostino to suggest that the institutional capital entering the market may have insights that retail investors are yet to grasp.

This institutional momentum has been further supported by the launch of Twenty One Capital, a Bitcoin investment firm backed by Tether, Bitfinex, and SoftBank. The firm plans to start with over 42,000 BTC and is set to trade publicly under the ticker “XXI” after merging with Cantor Equity Partners, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) valued at $200 million.

D’Agostino highlighted three key factors driving institutional interest in Bitcoin: first, a push toward de-dollarization, with institutions reducing their exposure to USD as global trade conditions shift; second, Bitcoin’s growing separation from the tech sector, as it moves away from correlations with companies like Nvidia; and third, Bitcoin’s increasing recognition as an inflation hedge, making it a valuable asset for commodities traders.

“Bitcoin is now trading on its own merits as a non-sovereign, scarce asset with immutable properties, similar to gold,” D’Agostino explained. “Investors are recognizing its intrinsic value.”

While Bitcoin has demonstrated strong technical strength, altcoins such as Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), and Cardano (ADA) have lagged behind. The CoinDesk 20 index, which tracks the largest digital assets, is down 3% over the past month, while Bitcoin has gained 7%.

This price movement has rekindled interest in Bitcoin ETFs, with SoSoValue data showing ETF inflows of more than $900 million for two consecutive days this week, totaling over $2.2 billion between April 21 and 23. However, there were still nine days of net outflows from Bitcoin ETFs this month, totaling about $1.21 billion.