Bitcoin's push toward $100,000 this week masked a more complex rotation beneath the surface. While headlines celebrated the milestone approach, the real story unfolded in the distribution of capital across the broader market—a story that reveals as much about institutional strategy as it does about price action.

The week began with ETF inflows accelerating past $500 million daily, but the character of that capital has shifted. Early ETF buyers were largely retail-adjacent: financial advisors accessing Bitcoin for the first time, small allocations from self-directed portfolios. This week's flows carry different signatures—larger average transaction sizes, more sophisticated timing around macro announcements, and notably, increased activity in options markets suggesting hedged positions rather than directional bets.

This maturation matters. Markets driven by conviction behave differently than markets driven by allocation mandates. The former can reverse quickly on sentiment shifts; the latter tends to be stickier, with rebalancing occurring on predetermined schedules rather than in response to price movements.