• Bitcoin experienced the second-strongest January in its history — and the best since 2013 — rising nearly 40%.
• Institutional investors were reportedly back on board, with 85% of BTC buying in January attributed to U.S. institutional players.
• Matrixport noted that almost all gains were during U.S. market hours, suggesting that Asian retail traders had been outbid by US institutions.

Bitcoin Experiences Record Gains

Bitcoin experienced the second-strongest January in its history — and the best since 2013 — rising nearly 40%. This bullishness was widely speculated to have been driven by institutional investors getting back on board, as evidenced by a rise in total assets under management in digital asset investment products to $28 billion.

Institutions Dominate

Research from Matrixport suggested that up to 85% of Bitcoin buying in January was the result of U.S. institutional players, primarily due to almost all gains being seen during U.S market hours while falling during Asian trading hours – suggesting that Asian retail traders had been outbid by US institutions.

Macro & Technical Factors

Hypotheses for this institutional investor-driven growth included macro factors such as a pause in inflation growth and more technical reasons like a squeeze on BTC short sellers, providing further confirmation for those who are bullish about crypto’s potential for 2021 and beyond.

CoinGecko Viewpoint

Zhong Yang Chan, head of research at CoinGecko, commented that there were “net institutional inflows into digital asset funds in January 2023”, with Bitcoin being the largest beneficiary – further indicating increased institutional interest within the crypto space throughout Q1 2021 onwards.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it appears that US institutions have prevailed over Asian retail traders when it comes to driving Bitcoin’s big month of January 2023 – with macro factors and technical analysis acting as confirmation signals for those looking to invest in cryptocurrency this year and beyond.