Whale behavior and ETF disagreements mask Bitcoin’s retail hype

Despite the huge net inflow of Bitcoin ETFs, the buying pressure in the spot market is still limited. On-chain data shows that the ownership structure is relatively scattered, mainly dominated by small and medium-sized holders. Currently, the number of Bitcoin wallets exceeds 55 million, most of which hold 0.1 to 1 BTC, which indicates that retail investors have high participation, but limited short-term market influence. Although global cryptocurrency users are expected to reach 562 million by 2024, large-scale transactions of “whales” (such as the recent purchase of 80,000 BTC after 14 years of silence) usually occur off-site, minimizing the direct impact on prices. Analysts stressed that ETF traffic and on-chain data need to be monitored simultaneously to judge the popularity of the market in these differentiation.