450 BTC to 92 BTC: The Great Bitcoin Shrink Saga!

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Key Takeaways (Or Why Your Pocket is Now a Ghost)

Why has retail participation fallen so dramatically? 🧙‍♂️

The arrival of ETFs in January 2024 was like a magician waving a wand-poof! Small investors vanished into thin air, leaving only whispers of their once-bustling presence on exchanges. 🧙‍♂️

What does it mean for Bitcoin? 🐚

It will not affect Bitcoin or its price trends, though it does highlight how reality has shifted dramatically from the original vision that Satoshi had for Bitcoin. It’s like a cake that’s now a crumb. 🍰

Bitcoin [BTC] faced another wave of selling pressure on Monday, the 3rd of November. It was as if the market had a bad case of the Mondays, and the entire crypto world was caught in a sneeze. 🤧

There was a risk of a deeper flush. The build-up of stablecoin firepower could catalyze a bullish reversal, and the recent weeks’ price action could be yet another market bottom. Or maybe just a very tired market. 🐢

Of course, the large liquidations last month left new investors hesitant to step in. They’re probably hiding under their beds, whispering “not today, crypto.” 🛏️

Retail participation has been dropping, but it was not just the recent chaos that has driven smaller participants away from onchain activity. It’s like a party where everyone left except the host. 🎉

Charting the Bitcoin Inflows from Retail Investors (Or How Shrimp Got Squeezed Out of the Party)

The collapse in retail participation was not sudden and catastrophic, but steady and drawn out. In a post on CryptoQuant Insights, user Darkfost pointed out how retail inflows have fallen to just 20% of what they had been in early 2024. It’s like watching a giant elephant shrink into a mouse. 🐘➡️🐹

Using the 90-day moving average of shrimp inflows to Binance, Darkfost observed that the launch of Spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024 accelerated the drop. For the uninitiated, these investors hold less than 0.1 BTC. It’s like a toddler trying to carry a backpack full of bricks. 🧸

Average daily inflows sank from about 450 BTC early in the year to just 92 BTC at press time. Behold the mighty shrimp inflows, now reduced to a mere trickle. 🐚

On top of that, this aligns with broader on-chain evidence showing smaller investors have been less active even as prices rallied. It’s like a silent movie where the audience forgot to clap. 🎬

Shrimp Addresses Hit Slowdown (Or Why Your Crypto Wallet Feels Empty)

AMBCrypto’s review of Glassnode data confirmed the number of addresses holding at least 0.1 BTC stalled after a strong 2022 run. It’s as if the market took a nap and forgot to wake up. 🛌

That slowdown implied many retail users shifted to ETF exposure rather than buying Bitcoin directly and moving it off exchanges. It’s like swapping a bicycle for a spaceship-faster, but less fun. 🚀

Shrimp Impact Fades as Institutions Rise (Or Why Big Money Rules the Crypto Realm)

The effect of falling small investor participation was likely negligible. It’s like a whisper in a hurricane-nobody hears it, but everyone feels it. 🌪️

Since 2023, the lowest 7-DMA BTC inflow to Binance was 3,936.4 BTC in early July 2025. This was an order of magnitude bigger than the inflows from shrimp addresses by the end of 2023. Behold the mighty institutional inflows, now the real kings of the crypto castle. 👑

Shrimp-sized transactions no longer move the market needle. Institutional dominance and ETF vehicles have changed how retail interacts with the network. It’s like a toddler trying to steer a spaceship. 🚀

The original vision of Bitcoin was to be used as a permissionless, peer-to-peer electronic cash. Much has changed in recent years, yet Bitcoin continues to function, though it does differ now from what Satoshi might have imagined. It’s like a fairy tale that’s been rewritten by a grumpy old wizard. 🧙‍♂️

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2025-11-03 16:37