The cryptocurrency left analysts scratching their heads trying to identify the culprit behind the price action. Meanwhile, institutions simply took advantage of the discount.
Institutions Load up on BTC As It Slips Under $115K
Bitcoin ( BTC) is known for being volatile but Friday’s 3% retreat caught many off guard. The digital asset traded within an unusually wide range, peaking at $119,535.45 and dipping all the way to $114,759.82 in the past 24 hours. While some bemoaned the volatility, institutions went crypto shopping.
Electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Volcon, Inc. (Nasdaq: VLCN) bought 3,183.37 BTC at an average purchase price of $117,697 per coin, according to a press release published by the company on Friday. The firm says it launched a bitcoin treasury strategy just last week.
“Our treasury strategy reflects our conviction in bitcoin as a durable, long-term store of value and a powerful treasury reserve asset,” said Volcon Co-CEO Ryan Lane. “As a continuous aggregator of BTC, we will leverage our team’s decades of hedge fund experience to implement creative ways to lower the effective purchase price of BTC.”
And it appears Volcon is just getting started. The company says it wants to “buy additional BTC at $115,000, $116,000 and $117,000,” numbers that fit perfectly in the cryptocurrency’s current price range.
Another firm, The Smarter Web, a public British web design company, also announced a bitcoin purchase on Friday. The firm began accepting bitcoin payments in 2023 and implemented an official 10-year BTC acquisition strategy in April 2025, according to its press release. Smarter Web bought 225 bitcoin and now holds a total of 1,825 BTC in its treasury.
If institutions are immediately rushing in to “buy the dip” anytime BTC retreats, then the days of a bitcoin winter, as some have posited, may now be a thing of the past.
Overview of Market Metrics
Bitcoin was trading at $115,890 at the time of reporting, down 2.74% for the past day, and also down 1.72% over seven days. As mentioned above, volatility was relatively high, with the price hovering between $114,759.82 and $119,472.65.
Trading volume over 24 hours jumped nearly 40% to $102.42 billion, but bitcoin’s market capitalization fell 2.65% to $2.3 trillion. BTC dominance also dropped 0.21% to 61.67%.
Total bitcoin futures open interest climbed 3.86% to $87.55 billion for the day, per Coinglass, and total bitcoin liquidations for the day totaled $162.08 million. Bulls with long positions dominated that total, getting wiped out to the tune of $146.12 million, while bears with short positions had $15.95 million liquidated.