(Bloomberg) -- There are signs that retail investors are still mostly on the sidelines when it comes to Bitcoin, even as institutional demand pushes the original cryptocurrency closer toward a record high.
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This may indicate that the market force known as fear of missing out, or FOMO, has yet to set in among individual investors — despite the fact that Bitcoin is only about 9% below the all-time peak of $73,798.
There are “early signs of revitalizing conditions in the institutional side of the market” but the same has yet to be seen on the retail front, according to Vetle Lunde, the head of research at K33 Research.
For one thing, the so-called The Kimchi premium — the Bitcoin price gap between South Korean and global exchanges — has turned negative. That’s a sign of tepid retail activity among Koreans.
“This inversion is rare, with the Korean market typically seeing substantial premiums due to steady high retail demand and strict capital controls, leading the premium to stay present,” Lunde wrote.
The recent rally in the crypto market comes amid optimism about the regulatory outlook in the US after November’s presidential election. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, pledged to support a regulatory framework for the industry. Donald Trump, her opponent, is avowedly pro-crypto — so much so that Bitcoin is viewed as a so-called Trump trade.
Bitcoin is up about 14% in the past eight days. Investors this month have poured roughly $1.4 billion into US spot-Bitcoin exchange-traded funds. In the derivatives market, the number of outstanding contracts, or open interest, in CME Group’s Bitcoin futures market is at record levels.
The largest digital asset rose about 1.3% to $67,790 as of 10:15 a.m. Friday in Singapore. Most other major tokens also posted modest gains.
--With assistance from Ryan Weeks.
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