Gemini Exec Reveals: Short-Term Crypto Price Swings Are Just ’Background Noise’ For Institutions

Institutional investors aren't sweating the daily crypto rollercoaster—they're playing a different game entirely.

Forget the retail trader's panic over a 10% dip or FOMO over a green candle. Major financial players treat short-term volatility like elevator music: ever-present, occasionally annoying, but ultimately irrelevant to their long-term strategy.

The Institutional Lens

Their focus cuts through the noise. It's on infrastructure, regulatory clarity, and the fundamental shift toward digital asset integration. They're building the pipes, not just trading the water flowing through them. While day traders chase pumps, institutions are laying fiber-optic cable.

Building Through the Static

This perspective bypasses the emotional whiplash of hourly charts. A quarterly roadmap doesn't get redrawn because of a whale's sell order on a Tuesday afternoon. The real signal, for them, isn't in a token's price—it's in adoption curves, developer activity, and real-world utility being switched on.

It’s a reminder that the most important moves in crypto often happen off the price charts. The next time Bitcoin dips 5%, remember: some fund manager just shrugged and approved another seven-figure infrastructure investment. After all, what's a little market tantrum when you're betting on the future of money itself? (Besides, their spreadsheets have nicer charts than TradingView anyway.)

Why Institutional Discipline Is Muting Crypto Market Shocks

As institutions increasingly use digital assets for collateral and portfolio construction, Ahmed said the focus has shifted away from day-to-day price flickers. “Short-term price movements are becoming background noise, while the focus remains on long-term positioning and fundamentals,” he said.

That mindset, he argued, helps explain why sharp sell-offs do not always spiral the way they once did. Where prior cycles often saw DEEP drawdowns turn into prolonged turbulence, he said the latest rebound showed more discipline in risk management as institutional players adjust exposure.

Between Nov. 19 to Dec. 19, 2025, crypto markets came under heavy selling pressure, with Bitcoin suffering its steepest monthly decline since mid-2021, sliding roughly 17% to 21% in November and retreating from near $100,000 to about $87,000 by mid-December as it tested support around $85,000 to $86,000.

Ethereum followed a similar path, falling from around $3,900 at the start of November to a low NEAR $2,745 on November 21, before clawing back to trade around $2,900 to $3,000 by December 19, leaving the token down roughly 20% to 25% over the period.

Deliberate Capital, Not Fast Money, Drives Today’s Market

In Ahmed’s view, the gap between long-term positioning and short-term price action has widened, but it does not mean capital has left the space.

“Institutional capital is still flowing. It’s just flowing at a more deliberate pace,” Ahmed said, as firms treat digital assets less like a punt and more like a strategic component.

Traders, meanwhile, have fixated on ETF flows as a real-time scoreboard for demand. Ahmed said investors should treat that data as a useful read on mood, not a definitive signal on direction. “ETF flows are helpful indicators of short-term sentiment, but are not the sole compass for where the market is headed,” he said.

He pointed instead to the plumbing behind the trade, regulated rails, secure custody, and liquidity depth, as the foundations that keep institutions engaged even when prices whip around.

Beyond Price Charts, On-Chain Signals Shape Crypto’s Next Phase

Looking into 2026, the exec said the industry needs to judge health by more than price charts. He is watching on-chain fundamentals, including real-world asset activity and stablecoin usage, as indicators that can signal whether utility is expanding and confidence is building.

Across Asia Pacific, Ahmed said the most important shift has come from institutional adoption, not retail speculation. He pointed to 2025 momentum in ETFs, stablecoins, and treasury applications, especially in Singapore, Australia, and Hong Kong, as the region moves from cautious exploration to mainstream relevance.

That diversity also shapes Gemini’s playbook, he said, because regulatory approaches differ sharply across markets.

Gemini’s recent expansion into Australia fits that strategy, with the company building local teams to serve both institutions and retail clients, while it scouts additional markets over the longer-term.