Retail Investors Pour $135B into Spot Bitcoin ETFs—Main Street Bets Big on Crypto

Wall Street's latest crypto toy just got a Main Street stamp of approval. Retail investors have piled $135 billion into spot Bitcoin ETFs—proving once again that mom-and-pop traders will FOMO into anything with a ticker symbol.

The floodgates are open

No longer content with meme stocks and Robinhood roulette, everyday investors are now diving headfirst into Bitcoin-backed funds. That $135 billion AUM? That's not hedge fund money—it's your neighbor's retirement play.

Institutions watching from the sidelines

While Goldman Sachs still debates 'digital asset viability,' retail traders are busy eating their lunch. The irony? These ETFs were supposed to be the 'safe' way for big money to touch crypto. Instead, they've become yet another vehicle for retail's reckless abandon.

One question remains: When the SEC finally admits defeat and greenlights an actual meme coin ETF, how fast will that $135 billion figure double?

Per the data, there has been a plunge in Google searches for Bitcoin for most of 2025, even as Bitcoin continues to climb higher. Experts have quickly debunked this claim with Bitcoin adviser to the El Salvador President, Max Keiser, noting that ETF is of retail interest.

Meanwhile, Balchunas clarified that the retail interest in Bitcoin through ETFs is not the classic dumb money retail where investors’ strategy is based on celebrity endorsements or degenerate traders’ behavior.

He said:

“This ‘retail interest’ is not dumdum GameStop YOLO retail or ‘I saw Tom Brady in a commercial’ FOMO retail (I think those investors got burned and are not taking second bite Apple till at least $150k).”

Instead, these are smart money retail investors who are familiar with the market and fully focused on the fundamentals of Bitcoin. Balchunas noted that this might be why BTC price is stable, as the current retail interest is not the kind to dump due to any major uncertainty.

Investors opting for Bitcoin ETFs over spot assets

Meanwhile, Balchunas’s statement highlights the role of retail investors in driving inflows to spot Bitcoin ETFs as the crypto industry experiences a shift in how retail investors gain exposure to Bitcoin. Rather than using crypto exchanges or digital wallets, many now opt to buy through regulated ETFs tied to their existing TradFi portfolios.

The ETF model removes the need to manage private keys or rely on crypto-native custodians, making Bitcoin more accessible to older investors and traditional account holders. This also eliminates the risks of losing assets due to hacks or scams.

A few months ago, Bitcoin analyst Plan B announced that he had moved all his Bitcoin from self-custody to ETFs, noting that the hassle of managing his private keys is too much. Although the decision generated criticisms from several Bitcoin maxis, it highlights how Bitcoin investors change how they hold the asset.

Bitcoin ETFs post strong inflows with BlackRock IBIT dominating

Meanwhile, spot Bitcoin ETFs have posted consistent inflows throughout 2025, helping to solidify their position as a new Core asset class for U.S. investors. According to CoinMarketCap data, spot Bitcoin ETFs have had seven days of consecutive inflows up until July 11. Of those days, two consecutive days had more than $1 billion in inflows each.

The top three products offered by BlackRock IBIT, Fidelity FBTC, and Ark Invest & 21Shares ARKB collectively hold most of these assets. However, BlackRock IBIT continues to dominate the category, with the product now being the 20th largest ETF despite being less than two years old.

Balchunas predicted last week that IBIT could hit $100 billion in AUM this summer, while adding later that recent inflows suggest that it could even happen this month. The product already has $88 billion and has been the third most traded ETF today.

Interestingly, IBIT  has emerged as BlackRock’s most profitable ETF and its seventh largest, showing its massive overperformance in only 18 months.

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