Markus Thielen sees Bitcoin reaching $90,000 by year-end, questions institutional ETF demand and says Ethereum must do more for holders.

Bitcoin’s days of consecutive double-digit price surges are over as Wall Street traders and profit-taking whales reshape the market, according to 10x Research founder Markus Thielen.

Institutional traders selling call options after rallies have made Bitcoin’s violent price explosions of earlier years less common, Thielen says in the latest episode of Cointelegraph’s Trade Secrets.

Thielen is also the author of Crypto Titans, a history of the industry. Writing the book led him to notice how each cycle brought different people pitching crypto to investors.

“Every cycle had actually different promoters, and different promoters bring in different investors,” he says.

This time, the promoters come from Wall Street, where investors trade on economic data and Federal Reserve decisions. Thielen says he expects Bitcoin will rise quickly on news, then spend time crab walking across the chart before the next big macro event.

Thielen estimates that market makers account for up to half of the $60 billion in net spot Bitcoin ETF inflows he analyzed. Those firms hold ETF shares as a way to hedge their options trades, so the positions do not necessarily represent a bet that Bitcoin’s price will rise.

His estimate draws on a review of Form 13F filings, which disclose certain securities holdings of investment managers.

Thielen says the first wave of funds into the ETFs also included retail investors buying through institutions and corporate vehicles.

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