Bitcoin (BTC) Price Reached $80,000 Due to Institutional Demand, Not Retail FOMO, Says Gemini Co-Founder Cameron Winklevoss

Bitcoin reached $80,000 primarily due to consistent institutional demand through spot Bitcoin ETFs rather than retail investor activity

Bitcoin’s price surged to nearly $80,000 in the final quarter of 2023, and while many pointed to retail activity and FOMO, Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss believes that the institutional demand was the main driver behind the rally.

According to Winklevoss, the sticky demand from institutional investors is a sign of sustained bullish sentiment, and that the current market cycle is still in its early stages.

"The road to $80k bitcoin was paved with steady ETF demand," Winklevoss stated. "Not retail FOMO. Little fanfare. People buy ETFs, they don’t sell them. This is sticky HODL-like capital. Floor keeps rising."

Highlighting the role of ETFs in the institutional demand, Winklevoss added, "We just won the coin toss, innings haven't started."

The performance of US crypto ETFs this week was largely influenced by the outcome of the presidential elections. Following Trump's declaration of victory on November 5, spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs experienced a trend reversal.

According to data from Farside Investors, the group of eleven spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted around $622 million in net inflows on Wednesday. Notably, BlackRock's IBIT saw a record $4.1 billion in trading volume despite experiencing outflows that day.

However, IBIT went on to record over $1 billion in net inflows on Thursday, boosting its assets under management to more than $33 billion. This now positions the ETF as larger than BlackRock's iShares Gold Trust (IAU).

Overall, US spot Bitcoin ETFs collectively saw around $2.3 billion in net inflows during the three trading days following Election Day. Other crypto products also saw inflows, with spot Ethereum ETFs attracting nearly $218 million from Wednesday to Friday, Farside Investors data showed.