Retail Bitcoin (BTC) investor demand nears 6-month lows as BTC approaches $104,000

Google search data and app rankings show retail Bitcoin investor demand near 6-month lows.

Retail interest in Bitcoin (BTC) usually spikes about one week after the cryptocurrency breaks its previous all-time high, but this time it seems like the narrative is unfolding a bit later than usual.

As BTC approaches $104,000, we’re seeing minimal public interest and retail activity, especially considering the price levels.

According to River’s latest report, this lack of retail interest is due to the fact that in 2025, we saw a massive net selling pressure from retail investors while institutions were the main buyers.

According to the report’s estimates, individual investors sold a total of 247,000 BTC throughout 2025, which equals about $23 billion at the average price during the period.

On the other hand, we had companies like Michael Saylor’s Strategy, which accounted for 77% of the 157,000 BTC acquired by businesses that year.

Retail interest for Bitcoin nears 6-month lows

The report highlighted that the current search trends for the term “Bitcoin” are at levels last seen in June 2024, when BTC was trading around $66,000 after three months of failing to break above $73,000.

Similarly, the Coinbase app now ranks 15th in the US App Store within the finance category, which is comparable to its 20th-place ranking in June 2024, according to data from The Block.

If we can use mobile app rankings and Google search trends for “Bitcoin” as a proxy for retail interest, then we can observe that demand last peaked on November 15, 2024.

At that time, the Coinbase app jumped from the 40th to the 5th position in under two weeks, as reported by Asya Kamay in her analysis on December 18, 2024. Concurrently, search activity spiked to its highest level in over two years.

The report pointed out that the retail excitement coincided with Bitcoin breaking its previous all-time high of $73,757 on November 6, 2024, with the apex of excitement being reached nine days later.

Although retail traders missed most of the gains from the $67,000 level a month earlier, the bullish trend continued as Bitcoin surged to $107,000 by mid-December 2024.

The report highlighted that usually, a sustained period of high interest from retail investors occurs after a cryptocurrency experiences a significant price increase from relatively low levels, which is something that didn't happen in 2024.

The report pointed out that the net outflows from retail investors while Bitcoin trades 5.5% below all-time high support the "Bitcoin" search trends and Coinbase app rankings, which supports the idea that retail demand emerges roughly one week after a previous all-time high is surpassed.