Bitcoin ETF Entries Are Increasing, So Where Are Individual Investors?
US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw total inflows of $488.1 million on June 5, continuing a recent upward trend. Despite this, Google Trends data shows that Bitcoin and crypto-related searches are much lower than their 2021 peaks. This can be interpreted as a sign that individual investors have not yet fully returned to the market.
ETFs recorded their second-highest day of inflows on June 4, with $886.6 million. The next day, Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) took the largest share with an inflow of $220.6 million, providing nearly half of the total. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) ranked second with $155.4 million. Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), on the other hand, saw net inflows of $14.6 million despite seeing net outflows of over $17.8 billion since January.
Despite strong inflows and Bitcoin’s rally above $71,000, Google Trends data reveals that Americans have shown significantly lower interest in Bitcoin, Bitcoin ETFs, price, or crypto-related searches compared to 2021. While the Google Trends index for “Bitcoin” searches from the USA on June 5 was 31, “Bitcoin ETF” received 1 point. Other searches such as “Bitcoin price” and “crypto” scored 18 and 13 points, respectively, but still remained well below the scores during 2021’s retail investor-focused bull run.
Crypto-related search interest has decreased throughout the year. While there was some increase on January 11, the day the US approved the first spot Bitcoin ETF, and March 5, when Bitcoin rose above $69,000 for the first time since 2021, the overall trend was downward. Search interest for “Bitcoin” peaked in May 2021, at which time Bitcoin surpassed $50,000 for the first time and reached an all-time high near $69,000 in November 2021.
In a Twitter post on June 6, crypto analyst Miles Deutscher shared data showing that viewership rates for crypto-related YouTube channels have dropped significantly since 2021, even though Bitcoin has surpassed its peak at the time. In 2021, when Bitcoin reached its then-peak, crypto YouTube viewership was at around 4 million views per day. This figure has dropped to around 800,000 views per day in 2024, even as BTC reaches new highs. “The individual investor did not return,” Deutscher commented. “There is no other indicator in the world that summarizes the current state of the market better than crypto YouTube views.”
While recent Bitcoin ETF inflows and price growth are promising, it is noteworthy that retail investor interest is still far from 2021 highs. Google Trends and YouTube viewing data show that retail interest in the crypto market is currently weak. This could be an important factor in determining how the market performs in the coming months.
