Retail investors stay hidden, institutions dominate: Market structural changes behind the sharp decline in YouTube views

Cryptocurrency social media activity is experiencing a clear cooling trend. According to the latest reports, the viewership of crypto-related content on YouTube has fallen to its lowest level since January 2021, with a particularly sharp decline over the past three months. Behind this phenomenon, it reflects not only changes in platform algorithms but also a deep structural shift in market participation.

Multi-channel Cooling, Retail Participation Significantly Declines

Data shared by ITC Crypto founder Benjamin Cowen shows that the decline in viewership is not an isolated phenomenon. From the 30-day moving average data, multiple crypto channels have shown systematic declines, indicating that users’ willingness to actively consume crypto content is indeed weakening.

This cooling trend is quite widespread:

• Crypto content viewership on YouTube has hit new lows since 2021
• Multiple social media channels are experiencing synchronized declines
• Content creators are clearly feeling the change; even as subscriptions grow, actual viewership remains below the 2021 highs
• Retail investors are generally in a wait-and-see stance, with participation significantly reduced

Crypto commentator Tom Crown bluntly describes this phenomenon as “bear market-level social attention.” Bitcoin investor Polaris XBT more explicitly states that the current structural cooling explains why recent price fluctuations are more driven by institutional funds rather than retail trading driven by sentiment.

Why Retail Enthusiasm Continues to Cool

Behind the decline in viewership, there are several noteworthy reasons:

Market performance pressure

Marc Shawn Brown, head of social media at Cointelegraph, believes that after a year of performance pressure, many funds and attention have shifted to macro assets and commodities. Some traditional markets in 2025 have outperformed Bitcoin, directly reducing the appeal of speculative participation.

Trust erosion

TikTok creator Cloud9 Markets points out that frequent speculative projects, scams, and pump-and-dump behaviors have weakened ordinary users’ trust in crypto narratives. This trust crisis is a tangible blow to retail participation willingness.

Changes in market participation structure

On a deeper level, this reflects a shift from retail-driven to institution-driven markets. The influx of institutional funds has increased market professionalism but also reduced retail traders’ influence and enthusiasm for participation.

Bottom Signals or Continued Coldness

Although the decline in social engagement may not be a positive sign, there are also some encouraging signs to watch.

According to the latest data from on-chain analysis platform Santiment, Bitcoin’s social sentiment is gradually stabilizing. Currently, Bitcoin is trading around $92,065.43, up 1.54% in the past 24 hours. Santiment believes that the $90,000 level is crucial for maintaining a positive outlook among retail investors and is a key zone for market confidence.

In contrast, Ethereum-related signals remain somewhat scattered and have not yet formed a clear direction. This divergence itself indicates that the market is still in a phase of searching for direction.

Long-term Bulls Still Optimistic About the Future

Despite the short-term social media downturn, many seasoned participants remain optimistic about the upcoming market. According to relevant forecasts, the core prediction range for Bitcoin in 2026 is between $120,000 and $170,000, with a mainstream target of around $150,000 by the end of the year.

Tim Draper reiterates that 2026 could be a critical breakout year. Ryan Rasmussen and Bill Barhydt also emphasize, from the perspective of cycle structure and global liquidity, that Bitcoin has the potential to re-attract risk appetite in this new phase. These views are based on continued institutional inflows and improved Federal Reserve monetary policy expectations.

Summary

The sharp decline in YouTube viewership indeed reflects a decrease in retail enthusiasm, but this phenomenon is more a sign of structural adjustment in market participation rather than an end to the market cycle. The current market features are: retail investors are on the sidelines, institutions are dominant, and prices are stabilizing at key levels.

From this perspective, the low social engagement may even be characteristic of a bottom. The key is to observe whether Bitcoin can break through the $90,000 psychological threshold and whether institutional funds can continue to maintain their allocation enthusiasm. If these two conditions are met, retail participation will naturally recover.