Bitcoin’s retreating retail army exposes fresh market fragility

Bitcoin spent years trying to shed its reputation as a playground for speculative retail traders. Its latest selloff is exposing the trade-off: Wall Street brought scale and legitimacy to the cryptocurrency, but also brought a more fragile market. The outflow of retail investors, who were once the driving force behind Bitcoin's price movements, has left the market more susceptible to external shocks. As institutional investors continue to dominate the market, the lack of liquidity and volatility from retail traders has created a perfect storm for market instability. This shift in market dynamics raises questions about the long-term sustainability of Bitcoin's price, and whether its newfound legitimacy comes at the cost of its former market resilience.