Wall Street continues backing Bitcoin, even as traders abroad turn cautious.

A widening divergence in regional sentiment is emerging in Bitcoin markets, with U.S. institutional investors maintaining exposure even as offshore traders dial back risk.

The split is most evident in the futures market. On CME Group — a key venue for U.S. hedge funds and asset managers — traders continue to pay a relatively firm premium to hold long bitcoin positions, according to Greg Cipolaro, head of research at NYDIG. The one-month annualized futures basis on CME remains stronger than that on offshore exchange Deribit, where the premium has compressed more significantly.

Cipolaro noted that the sharper decline in offshore basis signals weaker appetite for leveraged long exposure abroad. The widening spread between CME and Deribit, he said, effectively serves as a real-time indicator of geographic differences in risk appetite.

Bitcoin fell to roughly $60,000 earlier this month before rebounding, with some market participants attributing the drop to fears that advances in quantum computing could threaten the network’s cryptographic security. However, NYDIG’s analysis challenges that narrative.

Bitcoin’s price action has closely mirrored the performance of publicly traded quantum-computing firms such as IonQ (IONQ) and D-Wave Quantum (QBTS). If quantum-related concerns were driving crypto weakness, those stocks would likely have rallied while bitcoin declined. Instead, they moved lower alongside BTC, pointing to a broader retreat from speculative, long-duration assets.

Additional evidence comes from Google Trends data, which shows that searches for “quantum computing bitcoin” tend to rise when BTC prices are climbing, rather than during sell-offs — suggesting the narrative gains traction in bullish environments rather than acting as a catalyst for declines.