Cointelegraph Consulting: Institutions are bullish on Bitcoin, but is retail?

Charts and data from the last two weeks show retail traders have flipped bearish and the BTC buying has stopped.

The latest findings from Santiment, published in Cointelegraph Consulting’s biweekly newsletter, indicate that the combined balance of wallets holding small amounts of Bitcoin (BTC) continues to decline. This shows a downward trend in retail holders, which is in sharp contrast to the aggressive accumulation strategies of large holders.

Social media metrics reinforce what is being seen on-chain. The average mood toward Bitcoin has been declining consistently during the past two weeks, pointing to growing crowd weariness regarding the top coin’s near-term potential.

Another declining figure has been trading volume. Since its peak of $60 billion in November, Bitcoin trading volume has been decreasing, reaching just $29 billion on Dec. 9. With a decline in sentiment, retail interest and trading volume, many are skeptical that the new all-time high can be broken through.

However, it’s worth mentioning that bearish sentiment and lower retail interest are buy signals for those looking for evidence of room for growth. Both of Bitcoin’s major breakouts this year, in July and October, originated from a predominantly bearish sentiment.

Read the full newsletter for more news and signals, complete with detailed charts and images.

Cointelegraph’s Market Insights Newsletter shares our knowledge on the fundamentals that move the digital-asset market. With market intelligence from one of the industry’s leading analytics providers, Santiment, the newsletter dives into the latest data on social media sentiment, on-chain metrics and derivatives.

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