Crypto Inflows Slow Sharply in Q1 2026, Propped Up by Strategy and Venture Capital

New capital entering the cryptocurrency market has long reflected confidence in risk assets among retail, institutional and corporate investors. JPMorgan said the market has come to depend on continued purchases by Strategy and a small number of large venture-capital funding rounds as ordinary investors and funds pull back. The heavy concentration of funding sources also leaves crypto prices and liquidity more vulnerable to the strategy of a single buyer.

The crypto market attracted just $11 billion in inflows from January through March 2026, about one-third of the total in the same period of 2025. JPMorgan said Strategy had effectively become the main force sustaining those flows. Some crypto miners sold coins and other assets during the same period to redirect capital toward artificial-intelligence businesses, underscoring the continued weakness of retail and institutional demand.