Bitcoin Magazine
Coinbase Executive: Massive Institutions Are Buying Bitcoin’s Crash
Bitcoin fell below $60,000 for the first time since October 2024 on Monday, sinking as low as $59,099 — a move that marks a decline of more than 50% from its all-time high near $126,000.
But according to John D’Agostino, Coinbase’s head of institutional strategy, the drop is being welcomed — not feared — by the most sophisticated players in the market.
Appearing on CNBC’s Squawk Box Monday morning, D’Agostino said the institutional investors he speaks with regularly are viewing the pullback as an opportunity to accumulate at a discount, not a reason to panic.
“I just got off a plane from the Middle East, and I can tell you that the family offices in the UAE and the government and sovereign funds that are putting the effort into buying this asset class are not unhappy at being able to buy it at a discount,” D’Agostino said.
His comments align with recent data showing sustained institutional buying through the downturn.
Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company — a $330 billion sovereign wealth fund — reported holding 14.7 million shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) as of March 31, 2026, a 16% increase quarter-over-quarter, marking four consecutive quarters of accumulation even as BTC declined roughly 40% from its all-time high.
JUST IN: Coinbase’s John D’Agostino says institutional investors and governments are happy to buy cheap Bitcoin at a discount “They’re thinking about what the cheapest way is to buy an asset that they loved at $125K, they liked at 100K, and loved even more at $65K” pic.twitter.com/6Dx8M3wG50— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) June 8, 2026
“100 Billion Dollars of Bitcoin ETF Exposure”
Despite Bitcoin’s steep correction, D’Agostino pointed to a striking statistic as evidence of durable retail conviction: Bitcoin ETFs still hold approximately $100 billion in exposure even after the price has dropped nearly 50% from its peak.
“The price has dropped almost 50% from the peak, and we’ve only seen about a 15% drawdown in retail interest,” D’Agostino noted. “So I think both retail and institutional are signaling this is a long-term asset you want to hold.”
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust alone held roughly $51.9 billion in assets under management as of earlier this year, representing approximately 45% of all spot Bitcoin ETF assets.
Some reasons for the pullback
When pressed to identify the drivers behind Bitcoin’s “winter,” D’Agostino largely agreed with a list offered by the Squawk Box host, which included: risk-off sentiment pushing investors toward more liquid positions; interest rates remaining elevated, weakening the debasement trade thesis; regulatory clarity remaining in legislative limbo; and Strategy’s Michael Saylor breaking his long-standing “never sell” pledge by offloading a portion of the company’s Bitcoi
