Crypto Market Underperforms Equity Despite Global Liquidity Boost

Wintermute Report: Crypto Market Underperforms Despite Fed Rate Cuts

Why is crypto struggling while other markets are doing so well? Wintermute’s new report reveals that even though global liquidity is growing and central banks are cutting interest rates, the crypto market underperforms compared to stocks, AI, and prediction markets. 

The current crypto market cap stands at $3.39 Trillion with a decrease of 2.4% in the last 24 hours. 

Source: CMC

Money Is Flowing Just Not Into Crypto

Wintermute’s Week 43 report shows that money is moving freely across global markets, but not much is finding its way into digital assets. 

• Bitcoin jumped about +10% in late September but has since dropped nearly -6% by early November. 

• Ethereum had a strong +9% gain in Week 39 but later fell by around -5.9%. 

• In comparison, the Nasdaq and Russell 2000 stood their ground, each up around +2%. 

Source: Wintermint Report

It means that while liquidity remains strong, investors are still favoring traditional assets over digital currencies. 

ETFs and DATs Cool Off While Stablecoins Keep Growing

Wintermute noticed that the three major sources of inflows, ETFs, stablecoins, and DATs, or decentralized autonomous tokens, have lost their balance. 

Only stablecoins continue to grow, up over 50% this year and adding roughly $100 billion in new supply.

Inflows into ETFs have ground to a near halt, with Bitcoin ETF holdings stuck near $150 billion. DAT-related trading has also fallen sharply on major exchanges like Nasdaq, with activity falling significantly. That shows liquidity is there, but it's just not flowing into digital assets as much anymore.

Supportive Economy, Weak Crypto Sentiment

The overall global picture remains good. Recently, the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 25 basis points and also quit quantitative tightening - something that should have supported risk assets like cryptocurrency. However, after Fed Chair Jerome Powell hinted that another rate cut might not be in store for December, traders pulled back slightly, sending riskier markets lower.

During that time, gaming tokens shed -21%, Layer-2 networks were down -19%, and meme coins lost -18%. Only AI and DePIN tokens had smaller losses, managing to appear a little stronger.

Bitcoin Price Prediction: Waiting for Fresh Inflows

Bitcoin is now trading at $102,106, decrease by 2.5% in 24 hours. Analysts expect short-term support to be around $98,000, with resistance near $105,000. A break below $98K might provoke further correction toward $94,000, which reflects cautious sentiment amid weak ETF inflows and uncertain macro conditions.

What Lies Ahead for Crypto

Wintermute’s key takeaway is clear: the Crypto Market Underperforms not because of weak fundamentals but because liquidity is going elsewhere. The old “four-year crypto cycle” based on halving events doesn’t matter as much anymore. What drives prices now is money flow and until capital returns through ETFs or DATs, the industry may keep lagging behind other markets even in a positive economic environment.