Bernstein: The significant slowdown in Bitcoin inflows is due to retail investors shifting to AI, rather than the risks of quantum computing

According to CoinDesk, Wall Street brokerage Bernstein released a research report indicating that the main driver of Bitcoin's price weakness in 2026 is a slowdown in capital flows, rather than the market's concerns about the threat of quantum computing.

The report shows that this year, Bitcoin treasury companies and ETFs attracted approximately $12 billion in inflows, a significant decrease from $60 billion in 2025; ETFs recorded about $2.6 billion in net outflows based on an asset scale of $75 billion, with new demand primarily coming from corporate buyers represented by Strategy (MSTR). Bernstein analysts attribute the slowdown in funds to a large influx of retail investors into AI-related assets, with this year's strongest performance in the crypto market concentrated in tokenized stocks and commodities.

Nevertheless, analysts believe that the scale of ETF outflows remains moderate, and the structure of Bitcoin investors has shifted from being dominated by retail investors to a more diverse group including ETFs, corporate treasuries, wealth management platforms, pension funds, and sovereign investors, resulting in a healthier market structure, with the long-term value storage logic remaining intact.