In the first quarter of 2021, US retail investors bought more Bitcoin than institutions. JPMorgan analysts cite the data, Bloomberg reports.
During the first three months of the year, individual buyers purchased more than 187 400 BTC. In that period, institutions bought about 172 700 BTC.
Source: Bloomberg.
In the fourth quarter of 2020, institutional investors accounted for 306 658 Bitcoin purchases, while retail accounted for 205 444 BTC. In the previous period, the latter bought more digital gold than institutions.
JPMorgan analysts drew on information from Square and PayPal, as well as Bitcoin futures data on CME, investment fund reports, and company announcements. The statistics are far from perfect, but they indicate that flows of investment into Bitcoin have become more balanced, the publication noted.
Experts say retail activity is being buoyed by the NFT boom and new stimulus payments in the United States. A cooling in meme-stock trading, driven by Reddit communities, also played a role, they say.
“Volatility of meme-stock trading has hit many, but Bitcoin has maintained an astonishingly bullish trend that has made most people winners. Retail traders have stepped up with the NFT boom as stimulus began flowing into their bank accounts,” said Ed Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda.
Brian Vendiga, president of MJP Wealth Advisors, says that the entry of large companies into the industry in 2020, which helped drive Bitcoin’s rise, drew additional attention from retail investors to the asset.
“When you see something take off, it creates momentum in which you want to participate, and the balance tilts toward greed and fear of missing out,” the expert said.
On Saturday, March 13, Bitcoin reached an all-time high above $61,000, but prices later corrected.
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