Eric Balchunas has defended “suitcoiners” against criticism for superficial event appearances, arguing that they are responsible for the most recent Bitcoin bull market.
He claims that these “suits” are the reason why Bitcoin is no longer trading at just $20,000.
The new type of crypto investors
In crypto discourse, “suitcoiners” refers to institutional investors, TradFi firms, banks, asset managers, and compliance-heavy entities that entered Bitcoin after the ETF era. They are essentially responsible for bridging crypto with the broader economy.
Data from Bitcoin ETF inflows since their 2024 launch shows over tens of billions of dollars in assets under management. In fact, BlackRock’s IBIT alone boasts nearly $70 billion in cumulative inflows.
It is also believed that the kind of mass, emotional selling pressure that historically drove Bitcoin down 60–80% in bear markets.
Some commentators have taken issue with Bitcoin Investor Week’s speaker lineup, which features TradFi figures of the likes of Jan van Eck and BlackRock executives. Their presence clashes with the disruptive libertarian ethos of the early Bitcoin community that wanted to resist traditional finance.
Long-time large holders, which include miners, offshore funds,and anonymous whale wallets, have been steadily offloading hundreds of thousands of BTC. At the same time, demand from institutional investors has been rising. As a result, volatility seems to be lower.
However, there are those who actually claim that ETFs are negatively affecting retail investors, pointing to BlackRock’s massive profits.