Bitcoin Active Addresses Slide As ETF Era Rewires Market Participation — Here’s Why

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Bitcoin’s on-chain enactment has shown a crisp slowdown since spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) launched. While organization inflows into these products person accelerated, the fig of progressive BTC addresses has declined. As Wall Street embraces BTC exposure, the network’s grassroots information appears to beryllium undergoing a important transformation.

In an X post, the CEO of SwanDesk, fiscal expert Jacob King, pointed retired that Bitcoin progressive addresses person been successful a dependable diminution since the US spot BTC ETFs launched successful January 2024, and the irony is obvious.

Why Retail Participation Shows Signs Of Fatigue

For years, BTC maximalists person pushed for Wall Street adoption, believing organization engagement would unlock the adjacent question of wide usage. Instead, on-chain information has dropped sharply arsenic retail mislaid interest.

King noted that these Bitcoiners person piled into the ETF for a quick, aboriginal FOMO bump, and past bailed, leaving down a marketplace wherever the plus is progressively traded by proxy. According to King, ETF investing kills BTC’s halfway principles. While investors nary longer clasp oregon power their ain assets arsenic banks do, which is the precise strategy BTC was designed to challenge, greed ever beats ideology.

Market watcher Crypto Seth has revealed that the nett inflows into BlackRock and Fidelity’s spot BTC ETFs person been comparatively subdued since October 10, erstwhile the largest liquidation events happened. Seth believes that this mightiness crook into a momentum reversal soon, arsenic the US banal market is astatine 1% beneath caller highs contempt retail sentiment remaining stuck successful utmost fear.

Seth besides pointed retired that the macro backdrop is shifting successful BTC’s favor. This is due to the fact that the Federal Reserve ended its Quantitative Tightening (QT) programme connected December 1, 2025, wrapping up a multi-year effort that shaved astir $3 trillion from the equilibrium expanse since 2022.

Since the US Fed complaint is inactive astatine 4.00%, much involvement complaint cuts are connected the horizon, which is higher than some Europe and China. The BlackRock iShares BTC Trust (IBIT), which was launched successful January 2024, is presently the firm’s astir profitable exchange-traded money (ETF) based connected yearly interest revenue, contempt being little than 2 years old.

Unlocking Bitcoin Without Compromising Its Core Principles

Bitcoin is seeing cardinal initiatives that amended its ecosystem. Every marketplace rhythm that has committedness to unlock Bitcoin for decentralized concern (DeFi), RioSwap is 1 of the fewer products built connected infrastructure that was susceptible of unlocking it successful a genuinely decentralized way.

According to Mintlayer, this was powered by Mintlayer’s autochthonal HTLC architecture, arsenic RioSwap introduces a Decentralized Exchange (DEX) that allows BTC to determination straight into decentralized markets without wrapping, unbridging, and is afloat successful the user’s control. With the RioSwap testnet present live, Mintlayer sees this arsenic the commencement of a caller liquidity signifier for BTC wherever the plus volition go an progressive subordinate successful the decentralized marketplace connected its ain terms.