In recent years, the Bitcoin [BTC] network has undergone impressive growth, with both institutional and retail investors enthusiastically embracing the dominant cryptocurrency. However, there is a prevalent belief in the market that it is the retail investors who will play a crucial role in driving BTC’s ultimate price growth.
Currently, the price of Bitcoin stands at $30,455, experiencing a modest 0.46% daily increase. Alongside this recent price growth, institutional investors have slightly increased their share of Bitcoin addresses compared to retail investors. Therefore, there is a dip in the ratio. Typically, when there is a higher presence of institutional investors in the market, the ratio tends to decrease. This decline, although small, is noteworthy as the ratio was even lower earlier in the year.
The existing ratio of Bitcoin addresses held by retail investors versus institutional investors is recorded at 2,087.72. This figure is significant as it indicated a resurgence of retail investors actively participating in the market. It is worth noting that BTC was introduced for the average Joe as opposed to big corporations.
Moreover, Michael Shaulov, the CEO of Fireblocks, argued that the recent Bitcoin ETF applications are expected to draw increased institutional investments into Bitcoin. However, they wouldn’t be the sole catalyst behind Bitcoin’s price surge.
Retail Investors to Take Bitcoin to the Moon
During the course of the month, numerous companies, such as Blackrock, submitted applications for Bitcoin ETFs. This undeniably exerted upward pressure on the price of Bitcoin. This development also instilled optimism within the crypto ecosystem, as it raised expectations that institutional investors would be the driving force behind the price movement in the cryptocurrency market. However, Shaulov said,
“When institutions come in to participate in the market and they’re doing it in a quiet way, they’re able to do it almost without moving the price. Even though there were massive inflows, those institutions were sophisticated enough to acquire BTC slowly and use algorithms that won’t drive up the market.”
Furthermore, retail investors were responsible for 50% of the price surges in Bitcoin, as highlighted by the Fireblocks CEO. This is because their involvement in the market is less sophisticated, leading to significant fluctuations in the price. Several others in the market chimed to the same tunes. A prominent traded tweeted,
“Never in history have we had such a good opportunity for Retail Investors to front-run Institutions as with #Bitcoin.”
Cameron Winklevoss from Gemini drew a parallel between purchasing Bitcoin prior to the launch of ETFs and making pre-IPO investments. He acknowledged that both retail and institutional investors had already initiated a significant “Great Accumulation” of Bitcoin. However, he cautioned that the window of opportunity for such investments is rapidly closing.
As evident from the aforementioned statement, retail investors play a significant role in driving up the price of Bitcoin. Therefore, endorsements of industry pioneers can aid in luring retail investors and encourage them to invest in Bitcoin. This in turn could boost the price of BTC.