Institutional investors have largely remained steady during bitcoin’s recent market pullback, even as some professional traders scaled back exposure, according to a new report from crypto asset manager CoinShares.

The firm said the early stage of Bitcoin’s latest correction did not trigger widespread institutional selling. While certain professional allocators made modest adjustments to their holdings, most maintained their positions, suggesting the downturn has not significantly altered long-term investment views.

Advisors were among those who slightly reduced their exposure, while hedge funds cut positions more noticeably as leveraged trades across markets were unwound and investors explored alternative opportunities. Despite these shifts, institutional allocations remain broadly in line with levels seen over the past year.

Meanwhile, investors with longer time horizons have continued accumulating bitcoin during the decline. Endowments, pension funds and sovereign investors have quietly increased their holdings, according to analyst Matt Kimmell, who noted that these groups often view market dips as opportunities to build positions.

Bitcoin has struggled to regain strong upward momentum since reaching a record high near $125,000 in early October. The leading cryptocurrency was trading around $72,000 at the time of publication, still below its peak but above the lows recorded during the recent correction.

Several macroeconomic and market-specific factors have contributed to the crypto market’s subdued performance in recent months. Higher interest rates and a stronger U.S. dollar have dampened demand for risk assets, while the unwinding of leveraged positions built earlier in the rally has added selling pressure. Profit-taking by long-term bitcoin holders and uneven inflows into spot exchange-traded funds have also slowed the pace of recovery.

Despite bitcoin declining roughly 23% during the downturn, global flows into spot bitcoin ETFs have remained positive. According to Kimmell, this indicates that the sell-off was driven more by long-term holders locking in gains than by institutional investors exiting the market.

Historically, bear markets in the crypto sector tend to transfer supply from short-term traders to investors with longer horizons. The introduction of spot ETFs now provides analysts with a clearer way to track whether institutional capital behaves in a similar way during periods of market stress.

So far, the evidence suggests that pattern may be repeating. Even with a quarterly drawdown of about 25%, the report found little indication of broad institutional capitulation. Most of the decline in assets under management reflected falling asset prices rather than significant investor outflows.

CoinShares cautioned, however, that the dataset remains limited. Upcoming regulatory filings could provide deeper insight into institutional behavior during sharper market swings, including bitcoin’s recent drop toward $60,000 and a steep one-day decline of roughly 17%.

In recent days, bitcoin and the broader crypto market have started to move higher again following weeks of volatile trading. Analysts attribute the rebound to improving risk sentiment across global markets, steady demand for bitcoin ETFs and short covering after the recent sell-off, which has helped lift the wider digital asset market.