Bitcoin (BTC) is standing to show potent momentum fifty-fifty subsequently a major rally. Key data points show that the uptrend has likely been fueled past smart money in recent months. This means retail or mainstream investors accept been largely on the sidelines equally BTC price surpassed $fifteen,000 this month.

In 2017, when the price of Bitcoin hit an all-time high at $20,000, the retail demand was at its meridian. Google Trends information soared, mainstream media coverage noticeably increased, and spot commutation volumes exploded across major markets, especially in South Korea and Nippon.

This fourth dimension, the Google Trends interest is relatively depression for the keyword "Bitcoin" while on-chain information shows smart money is accumulating BTC.

High-internet-worth investors are buying Bitcoin

Moreover, according to on-chain analyst Willy Woo, information technology has been generally high-net-worth investors who have been purchasing Bitcoin.

Bitcoin mean transfer volume. Source: Glassnode

When whales buy Bitcoin, they mostly facilitate the deals through the over-the-counter (OTC) market place. Over time, spot and derivatives markets trail the OTC marketplace as whales lead the upsurge. Woo said:

"Who has been buying this rally? It'southward smart coin... High Net Worth Individuals. You can see the average transaction value between investors taking a big spring upwards. OTC desks are seeing this too. Bitcoin is all the same in it's stealth phase of its bull run."

The tendency of whales frontrunning retail investors is optimistic because it shows Bitcoin is all the same in its nascent bull phase. Big capital from new retail and mainstream investors is yet to enter the cryptocurrency market.

Another Glassnode metrics paints a similar trend. The number of Bitcoin addresses holding more than than 100 BTC hit a seven-month high at xvi,271.

The number of addresses property over 100 BTC. Source: Glassnode

New money is pouring in

Whales consistently buying Bitcoin over the past few months is optimistic in itself. But, Woo emphasized that the number of new whales has besides increased.

If the number of addresses containing large amounts of Bitcoin increases, analysts consider information technology every bit an overall spike in new whales.

The rise in more than loftier-internet-worth individuals accumulating Bitcoin coincides with the get-go of the contempo institutional frenzy around BTC.

Following Foursquare'southward BTC buy worth $50 million, the number of high-cyberspace-worth investors in the Bitcoin market noticeably increased. Woo explained:

"Best of all we are not just seeing smart money flow in, it's NEW smart money. Orange line is the rate of new investors coming in per hr previously unseen before on the blockchain. It'due south seriously bullish."

Google Trends data shows relatively low retail involvement

Google Trends data is indicating a similar narrative equally on-chain data points. The search volume for the keyword "Bitcoin" is currently less than 10% compared to the 2017 top.

Bitcoin search volume on Google. Source: Google Trends

Nevertheless, while the search volume for Bitcoin remains low, there is a peculiarly high involvement coming from states like Hawaii, California, Nevada and Washington.

Bitcoin search interest by subregion in the U.S. Source: Google Trends

Interestingly, California and Hawaii rank every bit the 3rd and quaternary highest in per capita income by state in 2020.

Moreover, San Jose/San Francisco in California i.eastward. Silicon Valley is ranked equally the top metro region for Bitcoin interest. Silicon Valley is, of grade, home to many high-net-worth investors and entrepreneurs.