Wall Street's Bullish Outlook on Bitcoin: A Contrasting View from Offshore Traders
The cryptocurrency market is experiencing a fascinating dichotomy, with Wall Street investors maintaining a bullish stance on Bitcoin's price, while offshore traders seem to be retreating from their positions. This contrast is particularly evident in the futures markets, where the CME and Deribit platforms showcase differing risk appetites across regions.
As of February 15, 2026, at 12:00 p.m., the gap in global Bitcoin sentiment is widening. While U.S. institutional investors remain steadfast, offshore traders are pulling back. The CME, a favored platform for U.S. hedge funds and institutional investors, indicates traders are willing to pay a premium to maintain long positions in Bitcoin. This is evident in the one-month annualized basis, where the markup for futures over spot prices is notably higher compared to Deribit.
Greg Cipolaro, NYDIG's head of research, highlights this disparity, suggesting that the reduced appetite for leveraged long exposure among offshore traders is a significant factor. The widening spread between CME and Deribit basis functions as a real-time indicator of geographical risk appetite.
Despite a recent Bitcoin price drop to $60,000, which some attributed to concerns about quantum computing's impact on cryptographic security, further analysis by NYDIG reveals that these fears are not well-founded. Bitcoin's performance has mirrored that of publicly traded quantum-computing companies, such as IONQ Inc. and D-Wave Quantum Inc. If quantum risk were a genuine concern, these stocks should have risen while Bitcoin fell. However, the simultaneous decline in both Bitcoin and these stocks suggests a broader reduction in demand for long-term, future-driven assets.
Additionally, Google Trends data indicates that interest in 'quantum computing Bitcoin' spikes when Bitcoin's price rises, further challenging the quantum computing sell-off theory.
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XRP's Outperformance: A Post-Crash Rally
In a contrasting development, XRP has been outperforming Bitcoin and Ether, with its price rising 38% since the lows of the February 6 crash. This surge follows a notable exodus of coins from Binance, which is often interpreted as a sign of accumulation post-price crash.
The full story, including further insights into XRP's performance, can be found on our website.
