The price of Bitcoin has fallen almost 20% so far in the first quarter of the year, reflecting the sluggish market climate in 2026. The difficulties of the first cryptocurrency have been largely highlighted by the growing apathy of different categories of investors. According to the latest on-chain data, activity among the smallest cohort of Bitcoin investors has slowed over the past few months.
Retail activity and demand for BTC drops to lowest level in over a year
In a March 21 post on Platform According to the market expert, this drop in activity also signals a deterioration in demand from retail investors.
Darkfost said Bitcoin retail activity and demand appeared to have been “relatively stable” for almost a year before its recent depletion. Data from CryptoQuant shows that retail investor demand for BTC, on average on a monthly basis, fell to -10%, its lowest level since January 2025.
Source: @Darkfost_Coc on X
Darkfost noted in his post:
Historically, retail demand tends to rise sharply when Bitcoin performs well, then decline just as quickly when BTC corrects. We can clearly observe that retail demand tends to decline when bottoms form or during bear markets.
The crypto analyst also pointed out that retail investors have been largely absent – as expected – in this down cycle. Typically, Bitcoin retail participation tends to increase sharply during periods of positive price action, while retail activity contracts during the heart of a bear market.
However, Darkfost noted that the arrival of spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has played a significant role in this dynamic, as investors benefit from regulated exposure to Bitcoin’s volatility. According to the latest market data, U.S.-based exchange-traded funds extended their inflow streak, recording a net capital inflow of more than $52 million last week.
“Nevertheless, the current lack of retail interest deserves close attention, as such periods have historically been associated with corrections that are already well underway,” the analyst concluded.
Bitcoin Price at a Glance
At the time of writing, the BTC price stands at around $70,350, reflecting a 0.6% rise over the past 24 hours. Despite hitting $75,500 early last week, the leading cryptocurrency has since cooled to around $70,000 in recent days. According to data from CoinGecko, the value of Bitcoin has fallen by approximately 0.4% over the past week.
The price of BTC on the daily timeframe | Source: BTCUSDT chart on TradingView
Featured image by DALL-E, chart by TradingView
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