Perpetual-futures volumes continue to trade at a premium over spot markets across most major cryptocurrencies, with funding rates, positioning, and liquidation events shaping intraday price movements, according to industry observations.
However, over the past 12 to 18 months, investor attention has gradually shifted from core infrastructure developments toward application layers and appchain ecosystems that align more closely with traditional fintech and venture capital investment models, noted De Maere.
This shift has brought fundamental metrics to the forefront in key sectors including decentralized finance (DeFi), perpetual-futures exchanges, and decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN).
“Fundamentals establish the baseline and shortlist of viable projects, while market flows ultimately drive pricing,” De Maere explained. “Revenue generation and user adoption are becoming critical factors in determining which tokens can withstand market downturns and secure positions on institutional investment shortlists, though these fundamentals rarely dictate daily price movements alone,” he added.
Data from Wintermute indicates a notable change in market participant composition. Institutional counterparties accounted for approximately 72% of the firm’s spot over-the-counter trading volume in the first half of 2026, representing a significant increase from roughly 59% a year earlier, De Maere revealed.
These institutional flows have become increasingly concentrated in established cryptocurrencies and a select group of revenue-generating tokens, with tokenized real-world assets emerging as the most prominent new investment category, he noted.
“The strong performance of revenue-generating tokens stems from two factors: fundamentals being appropriately rewarded by the market, and the current investment narrative favoring fundamental analysis,” De Maere cautioned. “Distinguishing between these influences remains challenging.”
