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Bitcoin Divide: UK Opts Out, Institutions Dive In

Institutions are loading up while Britain backs off. Plus: stealth alt season?

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Cryptopolitan News
May 06, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

📬 Today’s Byte

• Bitcoin? The UK says "No Thanks."

• While the UK says no, Institutions say yes

• Altcoin narratives reawaken as BTC consolidates

• Thread of the day

🇬🇧 Bitcoin? The UK says "No Thanks."

While the U.S. is going full steam ahead on building a Bitcoin reserve under the Trump administration, the UK is taking a hard pass.

Speaking at the FT Digital Asset Summit, Emma Reynolds, Economic Secretary for the UK Treasury, made it clear: Britain isn’t interested in stockpiling Bitcoin.

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“We don’t think that’s appropriate for our market, that’s not the plan for us.”

Instead of allocating funds toward a BTC reserve, the UK is doubling down on regulation over accumulation. The strategy? Apply the “same risk, same rules” principle—treat crypto like traditional finance.

The UK and U.S. have already formed a working group to align on oversight frameworks, but Reynolds stressed collaboration doesn’t mean imitation. The UK is also swerving away from the EU’s MiCA regime, calling it too rigid and favoring a “more outcome-based” approach.

But don’t mistake regulatory caution for anti-crypto sentiment.

Reynolds revealed the UK Treasury is exploring DLT-based government bonds, with supplier selection expected by late summer. In other words: yes to blockchain infra, no to Bitcoin hoarding.

As for trying to control decentralized networks like Bitcoin? Reynolds shrugged.

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“Some of this stuff is amorphous… there’s only so much the government can do.”

🏦 While the UK says no, Institutions say yes.

The UK may be steering clear of a national Bitcoin reserve, but institutions around the world are doubling down.

According to Bitwise’s European research lead André Dragosch, companies collectively added over 100,000 BTC to their reserves in April alone — pushing the total corporate stash to 746,302 BTC. That’s more than the entire Q4 2024 to Q1 2025 increase combined.

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Global corporate adoption of Bitcoin is accelerating fast, we’re up around +100k BTC since last month already.

And it’s not just the usual suspects. Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) added 25,370 BTC in April — but new heavyweight Twenty One Capital made the biggest splash, launching with 42,000 BTC. The firm is backed by Tether, Bitfinex, Cantor Fitzgerald, and SoftBank, and is gunning to be a major player.

🚀 More companies, More capital

  • 15 new companies added BTC to their treasuries in April, compared to 9 in March.

  • Brazil’s Itau, the country’s largest bank, is kicking off its Bitcoin venture Oranje with $210M in BTC.

  • SmarterWebUK and Cardone Capital are also joining the game.

But it’s not just corporate players. ETFs, investment funds, exchanges, and even governments are getting in. According to Bitcoin Treasuries, 187 entities now hold over 3.22M BTC — more than 15% of Bitcoin’s total supply.
Notably, BlackRock’s IBIT ETF and Strategy together hold over 1M BTC.

📈 The buy pressure 

Fueled by this institutional demand, BTC is up 7.4% this week, trading around $95K. Some say $100K is around the corner, but Blockstream CEO Adam Back is thinking in trillions:

$MSTR and other treasury companies are an arbitrage of the dislocation between the bitcoin future and today’s fiat world… a $100-$200 trillion trade front-running hyperbitcoinization.

With Bitcoin’s current market cap still under $2T, the wave may just be beginning.

📊 Market watch: 

Altcoin narratives reawaken as BTC consolidates

Most narratives made gains compared to BTC, with memes and AI agents showing the strongest leading signal. | Source: Dune Analytics

As Bitcoin stabilizes just below $95K, the altcoin scene is flickering back to life — quietly but decisively.

While BTC dominance still sits high at 61.7%, the sideways action around $94,320 has created space for multiple narratives to resurface, from memes to AI agents and real-world assets (RWA).

April marked the beginning of a stealth altcoin season, with smart money and whales accumulating tokens near all-time lows, even as the Altcoin Season Index hovered around just 12 points.

The altcoin season index shifted direction in the past week. | Source: Altcoin Season Index

That index has now climbed to 31, signaling early momentum into May.

🔁 Rotation in Play: BTC Pauses, Narratives Rally

  • Memecoins and AI agents led April’s returns vs. BTC, driven by both cult communities and whale flows.

  • Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) surged to $1.64, close to its recent peak, as the platform became a proxy for trading AI agents like AVA.

  • Meanwhile, memecoins like GORK, POPCAT, and AVA gained traction after whales rotated out of FARTCOIN.

  • Web3 gaming tokens also showed signs of strength thanks to fresh on-chain activity and new launches.

Even as legacy altcoins remain flat, this new class of tokens — often high-risk and high-reward — is regaining relevance.

🧠 Beyond the buzz: A risky revival

Memes remain volatile, often pumping and dumping quickly, but whale behavior keeps the rotations alive. The Solana ecosystem in particular is at the center of this movement, boosting user activity and daily fees.

And while RWA tokens lagged for most of April, they briefly outperformed all other narratives in the past 24 hours — showing how quickly the narrative tables can turn.

In short: Altcoin season isn’t declared — it’s stealthy. And it may already be underway.

🧵 Thread of the day by @CPOfficialtx

Market-moving headlines 🔥

21Shares AG, on May 6th, announced the launch of the Cronos ETP, offering investors exposure to CRO–the native token of the Cronos blockchain powered by Crypto.com. The new Cronos ETP will drive real-world adoption and pioneer the future of Web3.

Palantir has experienced an 8% dip in its stock after its Q1 results and updated annual sales projection disappointed its highly expectant investors. 

The United States Treasury Secretary is expected to deliver an evaluation on Monday regarding establishing and managing the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, as required under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on March 6.

Greg Abel hasn’t said much about Bitcoin, but he doesn’t have to. His silence is loud and clear as day. The guy who’s about to run Berkshire Hathaway, the most powerful financial machine on the planet, has been treating crypto like it doesn’t even exist.

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