Bitcoin Slide Exposes Market Fragility as Retail Demand Fades

Odaily Planet Daily reports that Bitcoin's latest pullback is highlighting a new vulnerability: as Wall Street has expanded the asset's scale and legitimacy, the retail buyers who once helped cushion steep selloffs have largely disappeared. Deutsche Bank AG data show the newest wave of retail demand has essentially dried up, as many investors have rotated into AI-related investments and institutional buying is starting to lose momentum. Analyst Marion Laboure said the marginal buyers are no longer retail investors, but ETF allocators and corporate treasury desks. Investors have pulled more than $6 billion from Bitcoin ETFs. Bitcoin is also trading below Strategy's average purchase price of $75,699, prompting the market to factor in the risk that leveraged corporate holders could be forced to liquidate. With retail participation stalled, price action is increasingly driven by institutional flow dynamics and competition from AI-themed trades. (Bloomberg)