Okcoin Report: Altcoins Boost Institutional Interest in Cryptocurrencies in 2021

Cryptocurrency exchange Okcoin reported a significant increase in the number of institutions and trading volumes last year, driven by stablecoins and tokens in the decentralized finance space.

In a report published on October 26, Okcoin said that between September 2020 and September 2021, the number of institutional clients on its platform increased by 450%, while institutional trading volume also increased by 124% during the same period. According to the report, 53 percent of institutional investors’ purchases in September were altcoins. Additionally, clients showed “greater interest in non-Bitcoin crypto assets” compared to previous years.

Specifically, the exchange reported that institutions have turned to "younger assets" in 2021, including MiamiCoin (MIA) -- the city of Miami's own token that was released on August 3, and launched more than a year ago Avalanche (AVAX). This is in stark contrast to buying behavior in and before 2020, when "institutions favored only altcoins that were at least 4 years old, such as Ethereum and Litecoin."

“Institutional activity on the platform reflects the macro sentiment of large investors whose clients include asset managers, venture capital and hedge funds, retail brokers, payment processors and other entities globally,” Okcoin said.

Other companies in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space have come to similar conclusions based on data from trading platforms. In September, analytics firm Chainalysis reported that transactions over $10 million accounted for more than 60% of DeFi transactions in the second quarter of 2021. CoinShares also reported that institutional interest in Solana (SOL) far outstripped Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) for one week in September.

Founded in 2013, Okcoin is one of the oldest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world and has steadily expanded to serve clients in over 185 countries. Although based in the US, the exchange recently received regulatory approval to operate in Malta and the Netherlands.