Retail traders edged out Wall Street to become the bigger buyers of bitcoin so far this quarter, JPMorgan says

• Retail flow into bitcoin exceeded institutional investment in the first-quarter so far, according to JPMorgan.
• The decline in Wall Street buyer flows may be one factor why bitcoin failed to hold above $61,000.
• Flows have been more "equally balanced" between retail and institutional investors in Q1, strategists said.

Inflows from retail bitcoin traders have exceeded institutional investment so far this quarter, according to data published by JPMorgan strategists.

A team of strategists used bitcoin purchase data from Square and PayPal to find that retail investors bought 187,000 bitcoins so far this quarter, compared to about 205,000 last quarter.

Over the same period, institutions bought about 173,000 bitcoins, lower than the nearly 307,000 bought last quarter. JPMorgan tracked bitcoin futures, fund flows, and company announcements to gather this data.

The figures indicate investor interest in bitcoin is no longer being dominated by Wall Street players, as was the case last year. A flurry of backing from banks and money managers was a major driver behind the digital asset's surging price in 2020.

"While the bitcoin flow picture was dominated by institutional investors during Q4 2020, the flow picture has been more equally balanced between retail and institutional investors in the current quarter echoing Q3 2020," strategists wrote.

Bitcoin breached a milestone by hitting a record high of over $61,000 last weekend, but it was last trading around 9% lower at $54,938 on Tuesday. The token is said to have taken a hit after Reuters reported India plans to fine anyone found trading, mining, or holding digital assets like bitcoin. Despite threats of a ban, the strictest stance by any major government, transactions volumes have been ballooning in the country.

"The rise above $61,000 was sparked by some stimulus checks, growing NFT purchase interest, continued support from Elon Musk, and as many traders locked in on hefty profits," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA.

If doubts about monetary policy, unchecked money printing and continually rising inflation continue to worry both retail and institutional investors, they will seek alternatives that provide safety, which bitcoin provides in a unique digital format, said Sergey Nazarov, the co-founder of Chainlink.