United States spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have seen significant inflows in recent days, with a total of $488.1 million flowing into these investment vehicles on June 5. This comes on the heels of a strong performance by Bitcoin, which rallied past $71,000. However, despite the positive momentum in the market, Google data shows that there is a lack of interest from retail investors compared to the bull run of 2021.
According to data from Farside Investors, the ETFs recorded their second-best inflow day on June 4, with a total of $886.6 million coming in. The following day saw a decrease in inflows, with the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) leading the way with $220.6 million in inflows. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) followed closely behind with $155.4 million, and even the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which has seen net outflows exceeding $17.8 billion since January, saw a net inflow of $14.6 million.
Despite the strong inflows into Bitcoin ETFs, Google Trends data paints a different picture. The data shows that compared to 2021, there is a lack of interest from Americans in conducting searches related to Bitcoin, Bitcoin ETFs, its price, or crypto in general. For example, searches for “Bitcoin” originating from the U.S. had a score of 31 on June 5, while “Bitcoin ETF” had a score of 1. Other related searches such as “Bitcoin price” and “crypto” had slightly higher index scores of 18 and 13, respectively, but still remain significantly below the levels seen during the retail-driven bull run of 2021.
Crypto analyst Miles Deutscher also highlighted a decline in viewership of crypto-related YouTube channels in a June 6 post. Despite Bitcoin reaching new highs in 2024, viewership of these channels has dropped significantly from the peak levels seen in 2021. Deutscher emphasized that this decline in interest indicates that retail investors have not yet returned to the market.
Overall, while Bitcoin ETFs are seeing strong inflows, the lack of interest from retail investors as indicated by Google Trends data and declining viewership of crypto-related content suggests that the market may still be waiting for broader retail participation. This discrepancy between market performance and investor sentiment highlights the complexity of the current cryptocurrency landscape.