Despite substantial inflows into Bitcoin (BTC-USD) ETFs and soaring Bitcoin prices, public interest remains muted compared to the 2021 bull run. This suggests that while institutional investors are actively engaging, retail investors have yet to re-enter the market, indicating potential for further growth.
Bitcoin ETF’s Record Inflows
On June 5th, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in a hefty $488.1 million. The day before was even more remarkable, with inflows hitting $886.6 million, the second-biggest single-day total ever. Leading the charge was Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund, bringing in $220.6 million, followed by BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) at $155.4 million, and Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, which added $14.6 million, according to Farside Investors. This trend shows that there is growing interest from institutional investors.
Based on the TipRanks iShares Bitcoin Trust Registered Fund Flow Chart, we can see that over the 5-day time frame, the price for IBIT has increased starting from June 5th.
Google Trends Data Paints Another Story
However, Google Trends data reveals significantly lower interest in Bitcoin compared to 2021. Google Trends measures search interest over time, assigning a value from 0 to 100 based on peak popularity for the term. On June 5th, searches for “Bitcoin” scored just 31 out of 100, and “Bitcoin ETF” scored a mere 1. Other search terms like “Bitcoin price” and “crypto” also showed reduced interest, far below 2021 levels.
Additionally, crypto analyst Miles Deutscher mentioned that YouTube viewership for crypto channels has plummeted from 4 million daily views in 2021 to 800,000 in 2024. This could mean that retail investors have still not returned.
Yet BTC Open Interest Surges
This lack of retail interest is particularly interesting when juxtaposed with the surge in Bitcoin’s Open Interest (OI). Over the past three days, Bitcoin’s OI surged by over $2 billion, indicating a significant increase in speculative trading. OI represents the total number of unsettled derivative contracts and is a key measure of market sentiment and potential price volatility.
Pseudonymous trader Daan Crypto Trades highlighted this on June 5th, saying that such spikes in OI, coupled with positive funding rates, could lead to a sudden price reversal. Kelly Kellam of BitLab Academy suggested that this scenario could result in a “whipsaw” effect, where the price abruptly moves in the opposite direction of the current trend.
The contrast between the high levels of institutional speculation and the low levels of retail interest could imply that the market is still in its early stages of a new bull run. Institutional investors are seizing the opportunity, possibly preparing for the eventual return of retail investors, which could drive prices even higher.
BTC Global Liquidity Reaches Unprecedented Levels
Stepping back to view the broader picture, global liquidity trends are creating a pretty good setup for Bitcoin’s price to keep climbing. Philip Swift, creator of the on-chain data platform LookIntoBitcoin, pointed out that global liquidity is nearing an unprecedented $100 trillion, with the M2 money supply now at $94 trillion. This level exceeds the liquidity available during Bitcoin’s previous peak in 2021, suggesting strong support for Bitcoin’s continued bullish run.
Institutional investors seem to be taking full advantage of these great conditions. The latest report from CryptoQuant, an on-chain analytics platform, draws comparisons to the pre-rally period of 2020, showing that large investors are pumping about $1 billion into Bitcoin every day. This mirrors the activity seen before Bitcoin’s surge from $10,000 to $70,000. Despite low price volatility, on-chain activity remains high, with a large number of daily inflows likely from institutional investors.
This trend combined with the large inflows into Bitcoin ETFs confirm the growing interest from institutional investors. Going forward, it will be interesting to see what spurs retail investors to join the bandwagon as well.
Key Takeaway
In conclusion, even though retail interest in Bitcoin is pretty low right now, the strong ETF inflows, rising open interest, and record global liquidity levels point to a bullish outlook. Institutional interest has been picking up a lot, adding to this positive trend. If retail investors jump back in, Bitcoin could reach new heights, boosting the current momentum even more.
