John D’Agostino said institutional investors stayed active during the pullback, with spot Bitcoin ETF holdings near $100 billion, Mubadala raising its IBIT stake and Strategy buying 1,550 BTC for $101 million.
Family offices, sovereign wealth funds and other large investors stayed engaged as Bitcoin briefly dropped below $60,000, with buying interest emerging closer to $65,000, Coinbase institutional strategy head John D’Agostino said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on June 8. He said investors in the UAE, including family offices as well as government and sovereign funds, were using the selloff to accumulate at lower prices rather than retreating from the asset. The pullback came after Bitcoin fell as low as $59,099, its first move below $60,000 since October 2024, leaving it down more than 50% from an all-time high near $126,000. D’Agostino said spot Bitcoin ETF exposure remained around $100 billion despite the drop and that retail interest had fallen only about 15%, which he said pointed to continued conviction among both individual and institutional holders. Recent holdings data also showed continued large-scale accumulation. Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company disclosed 14.7 million shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust as of March 31, 2026, up 16% from the prior quarter and marking a fourth straight quarter of buying even as Bitcoin was roughly 40% below its peak. D’Agostino also said he was not seeing major institutions in distress from excessive leverage, arguing that the bigger liquidation risk remained with retail traders using high leverage on offshore exchanges. He cited broader macro and policy pressures on sentiment, including risk-off positioning, elevated interest rates, unresolved U.S. crypto legislation, the war with Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Strategy, meanwhile, bought an additional 1,550 BTC for $101 million after previously selling 32 BTC for about $2.5 million.