The expert named institutional investors as the main driver of Bitcoin's ATH

The first cryptocurrency reached historical highs above $118,000, however retail investors are "virtually nonexistent." This was stated by the head of research at Bitwise in Europe, Andre Dragosh.

🚨WATCH: Bitcoin is at new all-time highs but retail is almost nowhere to be found.

Latest leg up is mostly driven by institutions. pic.twitter.com/PTziyUUAri

— André Dragosch, PhD⚡️ (@Andre_Dragosch) July 11, 2025

The expert pointed out a decrease in interest in the search query "bitcoin" on Google.

According to Google Trends, for the week of July 6-12, the metric reached a level of 40. Although the indicator rose amid the rally, it is still far from the maximum values of 100 points recorded in November 2024 before breaking $100,000.

Data: Google Trends.

**“**The recent surge is primarily driven by institutions,” Dragosh emphasized.

His words confirm the inflows into the exchange-traded funds (ETF) over the last trading days. On July 10 and 11, American spot bitcoin ETFs attracted $1.18 billion and $1.03 billion respectively, bringing total inflows to a record $52.36 billion.

Data: SoSoValue.Ethereum funds have also recorded significant inflows — the total figure since their inception has exceeded $5.3 billion.

Data: SoSoValue. Some participants in the crypto industry have suggested that the price of digital gold has become too high for ordinary investors.

"I believe many retail traders see that the price of one bitcoin is $117,000 and think, 'No, I've missed my chance,' and don't even consider [buying]," noted digital asset advocate Lindsay Stamp.

Discussing the topic, Bitcoin Matrix podcast host Cedric Yangelman expressed confidence that Bitcoin "will not come back to retail for a long time."

About Cycles

According to the CEO of Xapo Bank, Seamus Rocco, market cycles of forming new historical highs followed by deep corrections still persist, contrary to popular belief.

The risk of a prolonged bear market is quite real and does not require a "catastrophic" event to trigger it, he believes. Simple things such as a general slowdown in news, the development of negative events, or planned portfolio rebalancing can provoke the next downturn.

"We all want to think that Bitcoin is a hedge against inflation, and I believe that one day it will be. But I'm not sure we've reached that point yet. I still view it as a highly risky asset. At least, the correlation between Bitcoin, the S&P 500 index, and stocks is still very strong," Rocca explained.

According to the expert's vision, the "contagion effect" may simply wipe all news from the market. This will lead to the crypto sector "exhausting its potential" during a natural and prolonged process.

Data: X.

"Many say: 'Oh, institutions exist, therefore the cyclicality of Bitcoin is dead.' I don't completely agree with that," Rocca emphasized.

Recall that analysts from Santiment have seen signs of the beginning of the altcoin season.