Declines across the cryptocurrency market follow a week of rough trading for equities, particularly momentum stocks. As the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield spiked at the start of 2022, investors have been rotating into more cyclical and value names. On Monday, the 10-year climbed as high as 1.8%, after ending 2021 at 1.5%.

“We’ve seen bitcoin behave like a risk asset on numerous occasions over the past few months,” said Noelle Acheson, head of market insights at Genesis.

“When the market gets jittery, bitcoin tumbles. We’ve seen various indications that market sentiment is somewhat spooked by the spike in the 10-year — that’s not good for any asset that has high volatility in cash flows. Unlike many assets that are tainted by this brush, bitcoin is liquid and therefore can take more selling pressure without a heavy hit.”

Buehler said he thinks institutional investors will help to boost the price of bitcoin in 2022.

“Institutional money will probably drive the price up,” he said. “We are working as a fully regulated bank. We have asset pools that are looking for the right times to invest.”

But Pascal Gauthier, CEO of crypto wallet Ledger, told CNBC Wednesday that there’s currently a “retail trend” in bitcoin.

“They trust bitcoin more and more and it’s really the people that will push the price up,” he said.

efore seeking regulatory approval, Buehler said Seba Bank looked at the technology that powers cryptocurrencies and concluded that it’s going to “redefine finance.”

Elsewhere, Californian venture capitalist Bill Tai told CNBC Wednesday from Switzerland that there’s “yet another wobble” in the crypto market.

“I don’t know when it’s going to go back up, but it’s going to go back up,” he said.

He added that cryptocurrencies are at the crux of institutional acceptance.