Bitcoin's recent decline has drawn small investors back in. The price fell nearly 12% over the past two weeks, hitting a low of $8,630 on Monday before bouncing from levels near $10,000. The dip has s
Bitcoin's recent decline has drawn small investors back in. The price fell nearly 12% over the past two weeks, hitting a low of $8,630 on Monday before bouncing from levels near $10,000. The dip has sparked retail buying.
Glassnode data tracks the movement. Addresses holding 0.1 bitcoin or less—fractional amounts in satoshis—total 8,478,746. Over the past couple of months, addresses with no more than 0.1 bitcoin have climbed to 3,053,004, an all-time cumulative high. The numbers show smaller investors using the downturn to build positions.
Ethereum shows the same trend. Addresses on the network have reached 40 million. On May 22, the count of addresses holding 100 or more ETH hit 47,722, a record. This peak came even as Ethereum shed more than 80% from its January 2018 high.
A rise in small addresses doesn't mean new people entered the market—single traders often control multiple wallets. But the increase does signal more buying, particularly from retail investors. Bitcoin's recent halving of block rewards may have contributed to the demand.
Institutions have accumulated Bitcoin stakes for months. The rise in tiny addresses suggests retail investors now follow the same path, building positions in anticipation of future gains.
Crypto participants bet on Bitcoin entering a bull cycle by late 2020, with gains extending through 2021. This outlook has influenced buying at depressed prices.
Alexis Ohanian, Reddit co-founder, said on Yahoo Finance Live that an influx of talent entering crypto could lift prices. "Bitcoin is here to stay," Ohanian said. "I've had a percentage of my wealth in crypto for quite some time now and I still feel pretty good about it, I don't want to change too much of it."
Billionaire Paul Tudor Jones said earlier this month he was buying bitcoin as a hedge against inflation.
