Market now rely on internal fund rotation as new liquidity inflows slow, Wintermute

Wintermute has warned that liquidity has stopped flowing into crypto. The recent price moves rely on reallocation, leading to lower potential for growth. 

Wintermute, one of the most prominent market makers in crypto, has warned that new liquidity is not coming into the market. The current price moves and trading depend on the turnover of remaining funds, instead of new inflows. 

Crypto is now more capitalized, but the liquidity flows from the past year are slowing down, commented Wintermute. This also means rallies may be short-lived and lead to smaller surges.

Liquidity drives crypto cycles, and now, the money has stopped flowing in

Stablecoins, ETFs, and DATs have grown from $180B to $560B since early 2024, but momentum has slowed

Capital is rotating internally, not entering fresh → rallies die fast and breadth keeps narrowing pic.twitter.com/h9Rp2fJAcE

— Wintermute (@wintermute_t) November 6, 2025

At this stage, the crypto market may see shifts between whale owners and internal reallocation. However, a true bull market recovery may be possible only after renewed external inflows. 

Despite expectations of a growing money supply, inflows to crypto are not automatic. The recent market moves have made investors more cautious, potentially setting up for a bear market. 

Wintermute has often served the internal transformation of crypto funds. The market maker was also suspected of deliberately boosting BTC sales during the latest market correction. The market maker most often works through Binance, and its effect is felt in some of the more dramatic price moves in recent weeks. 

The market maker still holds over $549M in crypto reserves, deploying them to centralized markets, DEXs like PancakeSwap, and perpetual futures markets like Aerodrome. 

Wintermute: Liquidity drives prices more than adoption

In the long term, crypto has seen wider adoption, even during bear market periods. The tools for the latest bull market were created during relatively slow times in terms of liquidity and price action. 

Still, bull markets mostly depend on inflows of new funds, noted Wintermute. In previous cycles, the main source of liquidity was easily tracked – it was tied to the new minting of stablecoins. 

During the latest market cycle, the main sources of liquidity also included ETFs and treasury companies, both tapping funding from the open market or specialized deals with investors. 

VC funding is also becoming a factor, but it may also be connected to existing reserves and internal reallocation. Even token sales with external buyers are mostly targeting crypto insiders with funds from previous cycles. 

The turnover of existing stablecoins may be sufficient to keep the market alive, and even produce record-breaking rallies. Wintermute warns that new hot funds are avoiding crypto, with no signs of direct inflows and smaller demand for ETF and DAT company shares.

Increased liquidity returns to equity markets

Wintermute reminded that after the latest Fed decision, the world economy still works in conditions of quantitative easing and the potential for more money inflows.

The additional liquidity now seeks out opportunities in the stock market, which offers significant growth without crypto’s risky downside. The stocks of crypto mining companies also serve as a proxy for the sector, draining some of the liquidity otherwise allocated to digital assets.

The trend for a shift to stocks affected even traditionally strong crypto markets like South Korea, further cutting into new liquidity inflows.  

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