The week of Apr 27–May 3 showed a clear divergence between on-chain activity and institutional conviction. DEX spot volume fell roughly 20%, perpetuals also declined, and stablecoin inflows came in at a modest $173M — all pointing to a retail-driven cooldown in trading appetite.
Yet institutions didn't follow suit. Seven companies collectively added 620 BTC ($49.45M) to their treasuries over the period. The headline move was Bitmine — backed by Tom Lee of Fundstrat — which purchased another 101,745 ETH worth approximately $238M, continuing what has become one of the more aggressive ETH accumulation campaigns among public companies.
Strategy, Michael Saylor's firm, made no BTC purchases last week — a notable pause after months of consistent buying. Whether that reflects timing, capital deployment constraints, or a deliberate hold is unclear from the data alone.
Whale Alert