Bitcoin’s wild rally “” and a fear of missing out “” has retail investors flocking to crypto

  • Date: 08-Jan-2021
  • Source: CNBC
  • Sector:Retail
  • Country:Middle East
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Bitcoin’s wild rally “” and a fear of missing out “” has retail investors flocking to crypto

studioEAST | Getty ImagesLONDON — Bitcoin's record-breaking rally has led to a surge in retail investment interest in the cryptocurrency market.Crypto exchanges such as Coinbase and Binance and online trading platforms including Revolut and eToro have seen a spike in activity recently, as new investors race to capture some of the wild gains in the market."There is certainly market data pointing to increased retail participation," said Michael Bucella, partner at crypto investment firm BlockTower Capital."This is reflected in the recent surge in 'altcoins'" — other digital tokens that came after bitcoin — "and the increase in volumes on the retail platforms, as well as the crypto-native exchanges that have historically been more retail-focused," Bucella added.Bitcoin bulls claim the cryptocurrency's latest rally is different to a late-2017 bubble that saw its price soar close to $20,000 before collapsing as low as $3,122 the following year. The main difference, they say, is that institutional investors are driving the price gains this time round.A number of famed investors including Paul Tudor Jones and Stanley Druckenmiller came out as believers in the cryptocurrency last year, while U.K. asset management firm Ruffer added £550 million ($747 million) of bitcoin to its portfolio.There remain skeptics, however,