Bitcoin ETF holdings declined by approximately 25,000 BTC in Q4 2025, according to new regulatory filings, reflecting reduced institutional exposure during a period of broader market weakness. While large-cap assets continue to face outflows and positioning adjustments, activity within certain decentralized finance protocols, including Mutuum Finance, has continued to expand, highlighting diverging trends within the digital asset market.
Institutional Bitcoin ETF Exposure Contracts in Q4
Quarterly 13F filings show that U.S. institutions reduced their Bitcoin ETF holdings by roughly 25,000 BTC in Q4 2025, equal to about $1.6 billion at the time. This means large money managers held fewer ETF shares at the end of the quarter compared with Q3. The filings reflect reductions in ETF positions, not direct sales of bitcoin on crypto exchanges.
The biggest sellers were investment advisors and hedge funds. Investment advisors cut about 21,800 BTC worth of exposure, while hedge funds reduced roughly 7,700 BTC. Brokerages and banks also trimmed positions. In contrast, a smaller number of holding companies and government-related entities slightly increased their ETF holdings.
The decline in reported positions matches recent ETF flow data, which show several consecutive weeks of net outflows, including multiple large redemptions in February. Analysts note that some institutions use ETFs for short-term strategies or hedging, but overall positioning weakened during the quarter. Until ETF flows turn consistently positive, bitcoin may remain under pressure as institutional demand plays a key role in price stability.
Mutuum Finance (MUTM)
Mutuum Finance, built on the Ethereum network, is a lending and borrowing protocol designed to allow users to earn passive income by supplying crypto assets into liquidity pools or to borrow against their holdings without selling them. By depositing assets, users can generate yield, while borrowers can use their crypto as collateral to access funds for other expenses. On the token side, the project reports more than 19,000 holders of its native MUTM token, priced at $0.04, and over $20.6 million raised to date.
Mutuum Finance operates through Peer-to-Contract (P2C) and Peer-to-Peer (P2P) markets. In the Peer-to-Contract market, users lend and borrow widely used assets such as ETH or USDT, with APY determined by pool utilization. In the Peer-to-Peer market, users can create custom agreements with more flexibility, including the use of more volatile assets that are not available in pooled markets, such as meme tokens like SHIB or DOGE.
By depositing crypto assets into the protocol, users receive mtTokens in return. These mtTokens act as proof of deposit and represent the user’s share in the liquidity pool, accruing passive income based on the applicable APY percentage. In addition, users can stake their mtTokens. Those who choose to stake, besides earning passive income, can also receive dividends in MUTM tokens. A portion of the fees generated by the protocol is allocated to purchasing MUTM tokens from the open market and distributing them to mtToken stakers.
While lending is simple and clear for most users, many still ask: why should they borrow if they need to deposit collateral? For example, a user holding around $1,500 worth of Ethereum may not want to sell at current prices. Instead of liquidating the position, the user can deposit ETH as collateral and borrow USDT to cover other expenses or investments. In this way, the user retains exposure to potential ETH price growth while accessing liquidity. To unlock the collateral, the borrowed amount plus accrued interest must be repaid. There are no fixed repayment dates as long as the position remains properly collateralized.
Currently, Mutuum Finance is focused on developing its protocol. The first version is live on the Sepolia testnet, where users are testing core lending and borrowing features in a simulated environment. The team reported that the testnet has surpassed $150 million in total value locked (TVL). A recent update also mentioned upcoming feature upgrades, including improvements to the Stability Factor and broader codebase enhancements, with a new feature expected to be released next week.
Total Supply of MUTM tokens
According to tokenomics, the total supply of MUTM is capped at 4 billion tokens. A portion of the allocation is designated for community incentives, including giveaways and leaderboard-based rewards. The project is currently running promotional campaigns tied to these allocations.
The whitepaper also outlines plans to introduce an overcollateralized stablecoin in the future. The proposed stablecoin would be minted against collateral supplied within Mutuum’s lending protocol, with each token backed by on-chain assets above a defined collateral ratio. Its value is intended to track the U.S. dollar through algorithmic and market-based mechanisms. As a decentralized token issued on Ethereum, it would be created when users deposit eligible collateral in excess of required thresholds, following the same risk-managed structure applied to borrowing within the protocol.
Overall, the latest 13F data point to weaker institutional positioning in Bitcoin ETFs during Q4 2025, reinforcing the cautious tone across large-cap crypto markets. At the same time, development and on-chain activity within certain DeFi protocols, including Mutuum Finance, continue alongside broader market adjustments. How institutional flows evolve in the coming quarters, together with protocol-level execution, may shape sentiment across both centralized and decentralized segments of the digital asset market.
