Bitcoin fell by 10% in the second quarter, with the "ETF frenzy" fading, and tech giants have already "run away"

The Bitcoin frenzy seems to have subsided.

Since hitting a historical high of $73,000 in March, as of Monday, Bitcoin has fallen by about 14% from its peak, with a cumulative decline of about 10% in the second quarter, sharply contrasting with the 57% surge in the first quarter of this year.

As Bitcoin falls, the enthusiasm for Bitcoin ETFs has also cooled. According to data from CoinShares, only about $2.6 billion flowed into Bitcoin ETFs in the second quarter of this year, compared to about $13 billion in the first quarter, representing an 80% decrease.

Another piece of bad news is that Peter Thiel, a major player in the crypto world and the founder of PayPal, revealed on the 30th that he has sold most of his Bitcoin holdings. Previously, Thiel bought $100 million worth of Bitcoin through his venture capital firm Founders Fund in 2023 when the price of Bitcoin was around $30,000.

Now, Thiel stated that he has lost interest in Bitcoin, which he described as "cyberpunk, libertarian stuff," but he still holds a small amount of Bitcoin. He believes that there may still be some room for Bitcoin to rise in the future, but the timing of the rise is uncertain, and it will be a volatile and bumpy journey.

With Bitcoin continuing to decline and big players exiting, investors are inevitably pondering whether the risk appetite for momentum trading assets like Bitcoin will become more severe under the backdrop of sustained high interest rates in the financial markets.

Austin Reid, Global Head of Business at FalconX, said, "Many people in the market are expressing concerns from a macro perspective, as we have seen in some other asset classes, reflecting some short-term uncertainty in the cryptocurrency market."

Matthew O’Neill, Research Director at Financial Technology Partners, is relatively optimistic about the future prospects of Bitcoin, believing that a pullback after a sharp rise is normal. O’Neill pointed out, "The launch of the U.S. Bitcoin ETF earlier this year attracted a lot of funds, including many professional investors who want to invest in Bitcoin but only want to do so through institutional channels, and ETFs are the best choice."

For investors who still want to invest in Bitcoin ETFs, O’Neill mentioned that they may be waiting for Bitcoin to regain its upward momentum before entering the market