Bitcoin has reached consecutive record highs this week, yet retail investors seem reluctant to jump back into the market, according to a crypto researcher . However, demand for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is surging, with Thursday and Friday recording daily inflows of over $1 billion, the first time this has happened on two consecutive days .
Bitwise head of research André Dragosch said in an X post on Friday, “Bitcoin is at new all-time highs but retail is almost nowhere to be found,” pointing to the lack of Google search interest in “Bitcoin” despite the asset setting consecutive all-time highs this week . Dragosch said that “Latest leg up is mostly driven by institutions” .
Google global search interest for the term “Bitcoin” increased by 8% from June 29–July 5 to July 6–12, coinciding with Bitcoin breaking its previous all-time high of $111,970 on Wednesday, and climbing further to $118,780 by Friday, according to Google Trends and CoinMarketCap data . However, Bitcoin search interest is 60% lower than the week of Nov. 10–16, 2024, the week after Donald Trump won the US presidential election . That period was followed by a month-long rally that propelled Bitcoin to reach $100,000 for the first time ever on Dec. 5 .
Some Bitcoin proponents are speculating that retail investors may perceive the current price of Bitcoin as too high to enter the market . Bitcoin commentator Lindsay Stamp said, “I think a lot of retail folks find out the price of one Bitcoin is 117k and think, nahhh I missed the boat and don't even give it a second thought” . Echoing a similar sentiment, the Bitcoin Matrix podcast host Cedric Youngelman said in an X post on Saturday, “At what Bitcoin price do you think retail wakes up?” .
Meanwhile, the CoinMarketCap Altcoin Season Index signals the market is still heavily favoring Bitcoin, with a “Bitcoin Season” score of 26 out of 100 . From a technical standpoint, Bitcoin appears to have broken out of its recent downtrend, according to crypto analyst Matthew Hyland . “BTC confirms daily higher-high and confirms an end to the downtrend that started in late May,” Hyland said in a post on Wednesday . “Bulls are in control,” Hyland said .
Bitcoin is currently trading at $111,383, according to TradingView data .