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• Larry Lepard said Bitcoin is “a wild animal,” and steep drawdowns are part and parcel of the asset’s nature, but they have been getting less severe.
• The veteran investor, however, remained bullish on Bitcoin and Strategy, noting that Michael Saylor’s best move was to just hold his BTC.
• Institutional investors now account for most crypto trading volume, with hedge funds and asset managers the leading providers of market liquidity.

Veteran investor Larry Lepard has compared Bitcoin (BTC) to “a wild animal”, saying that the cryptocurrency has experienced deeper drawdowns in the past, but those drawdowns have been significantly lessened in percentage terms with the maturing of the asset.

Bitcoin “just fools you all the time, and it's unpredictable,” said Lepard on Tuesday, founder and managing partner of Equity Management Associates. Its drawdowns, which have fallen from 90% in its earliest days to about 55% in the current pullback, are like a wild animal, and you just have to live with it, he said.

Lepard Says Saylor Should Focus On Bitcoin

He remained bullish on both Bitcoin and Strategy (MSTR), saying that Executive Chairman Michael Saylor should hold rather than sell his Bitcoin. "If I had any advice for Michael Saylor, it would be just shut up and sit on your hands," Lepard said, adding that "the only thing that really matters here is the price of Bitcoin."

His remarks come after Strategy recently made a Bitcoin sale, which the company has said it is willing to do to support its STRC preferred shares. Moves like that are far less important than the trajectory of Bitcoin's price, which he said would ultimately solve the company's problems, Lepard argued.

MSTR stock was down by 0.05% during pre-market hours. On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment around MSTR remained in the ‘bearish’ zone, while chatter around it stayed in the ‘normal’ zone over the past day.

Wall Street Is Becoming Crypto’s Largest Trading Force 

Leperd’s comments landed as hedge funds and asset managers were quietly replacing retail traders as crypto’s main market force, becoming the primary source of liquidity and dampening the market’s trademark volatility, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. 

Institutional investors accounted for 72% of spot trading by volume on market maker Wintermute's over-the-counter (OTC) desk in the first half of 2026, up from 59% a year ago, as overall crypto volumes softened.

Bloomberg said institutions were gaining more exposure to altcoins via derivatives, structured products, and exchange-traded funds, instead of buying tokens outright, as altcoin options volume on Wintermute’s desk more than tripled from the second half of last year.

An Atypical Drawdown

The shift has produced one of crypto's most atypical drawdowns, with Bitcoin down roughly 50% from its October peak in a steady decline rather than the violent re-pricing that marked past crypto winters.

BTC’s price was up by 0.8% during the past 24 hours. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around Bitcoin remained in the 'bearish’ zone, while chatter stayed at 'normal' levels over the past day.

Read also: BlackRock To Triple ETHA’s Share Price With Reverse Split: Here’s What Investors Need To Know

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