T. Rowe Price crypto head Blue Macellari on Thursday argued AI has pulled the marginal crypto buyer away from crypto, and institutional adoption is moving too slowly to fill that gap.

How AI Stole Crypto’s Marginal Buyer

Macellari shared on Raoul Pal’s The Journeyman podcast that investors who previously bought Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) or Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) on a high-growth thesis have been putting that same capital into AI equities instead, where returns have been faster and more visible.

She also pointed to a sugar high wearing off. From the launch of the first Bitcoin ETFs through last summer, crypto received unprecedented positive news almost every week.

A new administration, a new SEC, fresh regulatory guidance, and wave after wave…