Analysis: Institutional Investors Sold Off $11 Billion in US Stocks Last Week, Shifting to a Wait-and-See Approach

March 27 – ARK Invest Digital Assets Research Director Lorenzo Valente says the importance of Elon Musk hiring Benji Taylor as X’s Chief Designer may have been underestimated by many. Taylor’s background: He founded self-custodial crypto wallet Family, which Aave later acquired (he served as Aave’s CPO afterward). In 2024, he joined Base as Head of Design. Valente adds: “If you’re only focused on basic fintech UX, this caliber of talent isn’t a fit. It’s increasingly likely wallets, on-chain payments, and even DeFi will end up on X’s development roadmap.”

**March 27th Update** Bitcoin fell below $69,000 on Wednesday, sliding more than 3% from its overnight high, CoinDesk reported. Meanwhile, major altcoins—Ethereum, XRP, SOL and ADA—dropped 4% to 5%. Optimism tied to easing Middle East tensions has faded, a key driver of the downturn. Crude oil futures rose roughly 4%, reigniting concerns over inflation and supply chain disruptions. U.S. stocks posted losses: The Nasdaq was down 1.4% in afternoon trading, with all seven U.S. tech giants trading at least 10% below recent highs. Microsoft led declines at 34%, followed by Meta (30%) and Tesla (25%). The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield climbed 7 basis points to 4.40%. LMAX Group market strategist Joel Kruger noted recent trends will likely stay tied to macro developments: “If the path to eased tensions clears, risk assets including Bitcoin should rise. If uncertainty lingers, prices may remain in a volatile range.”

March 27th: Per Bitget data, WTI crude oil has gained 4.1% intraday, last trading at $95.51 per barrel. Brent crude oil is up 4.09% intraday, currently at $102.38 per barrel.

March 27 (CoinDesk) — A new JPMorgan Chase report notes Bitcoin is showing greater resilience than traditional safe-haven assets like gold and silver, amid outflows from the precious metals, position liquidations, and worsening liquidity. The report highlights gold’s liquidity conditions have deteriorated so much that its market breadth now trails Bitcoin — a reversal of their usual dynamic. Gold has fallen roughly 15% this month, sliding sharply from its January all-time high near $5,500 an ounce. Silver has also dropped steeply from its peak near $120. JPMorgan cites rising interest rates, a stronger U.S. dollar, and widespread profit-taking by both retail and institutional investors as the drivers. Fund flow data underscores this divergence. In the first three weeks of March, gold ETFs posted nearly $11 billion in outflows — erasing all silver ETF inflows accumulated since last summer. By contrast, Bitcoin funds continued to see net inflows over the same stretch. Positionin

On March 27, LookOnChain monitoring data shows an Ethereum OG whale has unstaked their ETH after four years and sold 7,302 ETH in the past two hours. The whale offloaded the tokens at an average price of $2,073 per ETH, totaling $15.14 million. Nearly four years ago, the whale deposited 6,442 ETH into Lido at an average price of $1,522 per ETH (valued at $9.80 million at the time) and earned 860 ETH in staking rewards (equivalent to $1.78 million). Including gains from price appreciation, the total profit reached $5.33 million.

On March 26, CoinDesk reported that Jon Herrick, Chief Product Officer of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), told attendees at the New York Digital Asset Summit on Thursday that the exchange’s blockchain strategy centers on “building atop existing systems” — prioritizing interoperability over replacing current market infrastructure. Herrick noted blockchain technology will be integrated into existing systems in an additive, not substitutional, way, and that its advancement must account for regulatory frameworks, clearing systems, investor protections, and other “inherent advantages the market has developed to date.” He framed this approach as a fusion of traditional finance and blockchain: “This isn’t about which side is more right… I think they’ll converge over time.” NYSE is currently exploring how tokenized assets can function within existing systems, including use cases like real-time or near-real-time settlement and extended trading hours. Earlier this month, Intercontinent