Retail Bitcoin sentiment matters just as much as it did before Wall Street arrived. According to Swan Bitcoin CEO Cory Klippsten, ownership is still far from concentrated.
“It’s not like BlackRock owns the Bitcoin,” he said in an interview with Cointelegraph .
Why retail Bitcoin sentiment matters now more than ever
Despite growing institutional presence, Klippsten argues that retail remains the backbone. “It still does. You have to remember it’s not like BlackRock owns the Bitcoin and Fidelity owns the Bitcoin. It’s a bunch of retail accounts mostly that actually buy that,” he explained.
He acknowledged that people buy Bitcoin through ETF wrappers. However, those products still take real supply off the market. “They still have to take real supply and custody it. And it comes out of the supply. So it is real demand in ETFs,” he added.
Klippsten also noted that paper products and futures can complicate things. “There is something to the idea that there is more supply in certain ways. But at the end of the day, if you want real on‑chain Bitcoin, the fact that you can get it is what makes Bitcoin unique.”
Retail sentiment reflects in outflows and fear
US‑based spot Bitcoin ETFs have posted $2.90 billion in net outflows since May 15, according to Farside data. Over the same period, Bitcoin slid about 9.573,630, per CoinMarketCap.
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index scored “Extreme Fear” at 23 on Friday. That signals that investors are taking a very cautious approach.
Bitcoin price outlook for 2026: slim chances
Klippsten now sees a lower probability of a new all‑time high this year. Earlier, when Bitcoin traded near $95,000, he gave it about a 50% chance.
“Given that we’re still in the 70s and that we went all the way down to 60, I’d probably handicap that down to like 20 or 25% chance that we get a new high,” he said.
