- Bitcoin exchange reserves dropped to a seven-year low as accumulation ramps up.
- Retail investors are stepping in, with Bitcoin funds seeing $3.2 billion in inflows last week.
- Bitcoin’s dominance is rising, but its correlation with gold remains unpredictable.
The total amount of Bitcoin sitting on exchanges just dipped to its lowest level in seven years, hitting 2.488 million BTC on Friday. Even after a small weekend bounce — back up to about 2.492 million — reserves are still hanging around levels last seen in late 2018, according to CryptoQuant.
This pullback comes as Bitcoin’s price sits strong at around $95,400, building on gains from last week after the Trump administration hinted at softening tariff tensions with China.
Retail Investors Step In As Whales Step Back
Interestingly, while exchange balances drop, Bitcoin investment funds pulled in a whopping $3.2 billion in new money last week, according to CoinShares‘ latest report. That’s a big turnaround considering April had been seeing steady outflows — about $894 million just a week ago.
And it’s not just institutions making moves. Retail investors seem to be stepping up too. The exchange whale ratio — which tracks how much of the action is driven by the biggest players — fell from 0.512 on April 17 to 0.36 by April 27. Lower whale ratios usually hint at more organic, broad-based demand.
Bitcoin’s Correlation With Gold… Still a Bit of a Rollercoaster
There’s been a lot of chatter lately about Bitcoin behaving like “digital gold,” especially with markets on edge. Sure, Bitcoin’s price has somewhat followed gold at times — but the actual correlation has been a wild ride: from 0.74 in January to –0.87 just weeks later, and bouncing around ever since.
So, yeah — it’s a little early to say Bitcoin has fully stepped into gold’s shoes. Still, one bullish signal is clear: Bitcoin’s dominance index — its share of the total crypto market — has climbed from 54% in December to over 63% today. That suggests some traders are ditching high-volatility altcoins and moving back into Bitcoin.
Volatility Stays… Unpredictable as Ever
While Bitcoin’s volatility has narrowed a bit compared to pre-2023 levels, it’s still prone to big swings. In fact, on April 7, the Bitcoin volatility index spiked from 3.4 to 6.71 — its second-highest reading of 2025 — right as BTC plunged to around $74,773.
So even with the recent optimism and stronger accumulation trends, Bitcoin isn’t out of the wild ride phase just yet.
