Bullish CEO Tom Farley said in a CNBC interview that institutional investors are far more insulated from crypto market volatility than retail traders.
According to Farley, retail participants remain heavily exposed to leverage, speculative tokens, and what he described as ‘to some extent a little bit of gambling’.
Retail crypto volumes have fallen sharply through 2025. Meanwhile, institutional inflows have trended upward since October, with commercial banks, investment banks, and asset managers continuing to build on-chain businesses through the downturn.
Farley Breaks Crypto Into Four Buckets
Farley laid out a clear framework for how he sees the crypto market. He separates it into Bitcoin, highly leveraged speculative assets, projects with real working utility like stablecoins, Uniswap, Solana, and Ethereum, and the coming tokenization wave.
“You have to look at crypto and you have to separate into a few different buckets. There’s Bitcoin, and we can debate the right price for Bitcoin, but not the fact that it’s here to stay,” he said.
Stablecoin Balances Hold Firm
One standout data point from the interview: stablecoin balances have held steady or even gained 1-2% in market share while overall crypto participation dropped.
“You would think as participation has pulled back that stable coin balances would pull back. No, not at all. Stablecoins have stayed dead solid,” Farley said.
Tokenization Already Moving, More Coming in 2026
Farley pointed to US equities and money market funds already going on-chain as proof that tokenization is no longer just a talking point. He expects the range of tokenized assets to grow in 2026.
“It’s going to be a 20-year wave,” he said.
Bullish currently holds around 24,000 to 25,000 Bitcoin on its balance sheet. The company focuses on institutional clients, low fees, and liquidity over retail-facing marketing or sports sponsorships.
As retail participation dries up, the institutional side of crypto continues to expand.
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