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Bitcoin retail investor demand has hit a 52-month high, according to CryptoQuant. This surge shows that retail investors are back in action. Why? There’s renewed excitement around memecoins, DeFi tokens, and bitcoin reaching new all-time highs.
Bitcoin briefly topped $93,500. However, there's a catch. Aggressive leverage in the altcoin markets could lead to increased volatility as funding rates soar.
Retail investor activity in bitcoin is at its highest in over four years. This indicates a strong return of interest in trading. Key metrics, like retail demand and funding rates, highlight this enthusiasm. “You can’t ignore that retail trading is fully back,” says J.A. Maartunn, a CryptoQuant analyst. “We see dogecoin surging, high funding rates, and a spike in Google searches for bitcoin.”
The 30-day change in retail investor demand for bitcoin has reached a multi-month high. Interestingly, retail interest is expanding beyond just bitcoin. “Demand is shifting towards other coins that carry more risk,” Maartunn adds. He points to data showing the top-gaining altcoins over the last week. “Our data indicates that retail investors are targeting a mix of memecoins, DeFi projects, and major altcoins. These categories are popular among retail traders.”
Bitcoin has seen a slight pullback after hitting that all-time high. Altcoin market enthusiasm has led to a significant rise in funding rates. Analysts at Ryze Labs warn that this aggressive leverage could amplify market volatility if trends suddenly reverse. “Funding rates have surged,” they explain, “signaling a return of aggressive leverage, with many altcoin long positions incurring over 50% APY in funding.”
Retail interest has focused heavily on memecoins, especially after recent listings of PEPE and WIF on Robinhood and Coinbase. Ruslan Lienkha, chief of markets at YouHodler, has noticed this trend too. He points out that there’s been an increase in leverage for long positions in the altcoin market. “This trend raises the risk of a potential long squeeze,” he warns. “It could also indicate an impending market correction and deleveraging.”
As of 3:00 p.m. ET, Bitcoin's price dipped slightly by 0.8% in the last 24 hours, trading around $89,000, according to The Block’s Bitcoin Price Page.