What has happened to the army of retail traders who drove Bitcoin's biggest rallies? US crypto exchange Coinbase reported just US$56 billion (S$75.8 billion) in consumer trading volumes in the first quarter of 2024, when Bitcoin leapt to record heights close to US$74,000.
While that represents a fledgling recovery in retail interest - almost double the level in the final quarter of last year it is way below the US$133.75 billion quarterly average during the last comparable rally in 2021.
The retail investor was in the driving seat of that wild 2021 ride, as Covid-19 lockdowns, cheap money and personal savings drove up prices of "meme" stocks and spawned bouts of intense Fomo, or fear of missing out. By contrast, the latest rally was a more solemn, institutional affair propelled by the birth of US Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
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