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As the world’s biggest financial firms flock to the crypto space, Vanguard hasn’t budged. What could it take for the fund giant to follow rivals?

As crypto companies flock to the U.S. stock market, has the investment logic of the cryptocurrency circle changed? The Trump administration’s pro-crypto policies and the entry of Wall Street giants have accelerated the mainstreaming of the crypto industry, but high valuations, financial volatility, and regulatory uncertainty still pose potential risks.

Cryptocurrency Companies Flock to the U.S. Stock Market: Has the Investment Thesis of the Crypto Industry Changed?

Every major bitcoin (BTC) rally during bull seasons has always seen the active participation of retail investors. While retail activity has been low in the last three months, the situation is changing. Data from the on-chain analytics platform CryptoQuant revealed that retail investors have begun to return to the Bitcoin market as BTC has maintained its upward momentum over the past few weeks. CryptoQuant analyst Carmelo Alemán explained that retail investors, who are the most sensitive to market fluctuations, are gradually returning to the Bitcoin ecosystem. This cohort of market participants refers to those with BTC balances ranging from $0 to $10,000. Since BTC began to recover on April 9, the market has witnessed a significant increase in retail buying, as seen in the Retail Investor (Volume $0 to $10K by USD) Demand 30D Change metric. The indicator turned positive on April 28 and recorded a 3.4% surge in purchases from retail investors from then until May 13. The growth suggests the market is witnessing a notable recovery in retail investor interest. The trend also shows renewed confidence in Bitcoin’s potential, reinforcing bullish narratives and increasing buying pressure. This renewed confidence can become a catalyst for Bitcoin’s next price movements, as higher demand often drives positive momentum. Notably, the entrance of retail investors may indicate the beginning or middle of a bull cycle, especially if institutional buyers have positioned themselves. Hence, if BTC continues its current rally, more retail investors could flock into the market, triggering an even more significant surge. “This could benefit the entire crypto space, as small investors are likely to diversify into other projects, including DeFi, staking, futures, and other instruments. All signs point to this shift in retail behavior being the start of a new wave of mass adoption in the cryptocurrency market,” Alemán stated. The CryptoQuant analyst added that increased retail participation can lead to growth in active addresses, new addresses, transfer volume, and Unspent Transaction Output (UTXO) count. This will reflect an expansion of the crypto ecosystem in the coming months. Meanwhile, BTC was changing hands around $102,770 at the time of writing, after crossing $100,000 for the first time in three months. The asset was showing a 21% monthly and 9% weekly surge.

Robinhood reported one of its strongest quarters yet, with Q1 revenue rising 50% year-over-year to $927 million and net income more than doubling to $336 million. Robinhood reported first quarter results after Wednesday’s closing bell. Earnings per share of 37 cents was up 106% from last year while revenue of $927 million was up 50% year-over-year. The company saw record net deposits of $18 billion and reached new highs in Robinhood Gold subscribers, which climbed 90% to 3.2 million. The trading platform also continued to roll out new products, including AI-powered financial planning tools and an expanded prediction markets hub. Robinhood closed its acquisition of TradePMR and is on track to complete its purchase of Bitstamp later this year. The board expanded its share buyback program by $500 million to $1.5 billion, citing confidence in long-term growth. Mizuho analyst Dan Dolev praised Robinhood’s performance during a CNBC interview following the report. He described the report as “one of their best quarters on record,” noting the company’s all-time highs in funded accounts and revenue. The stock traded lower by 4% following the report, suggesting the dip represents “a buying opportunity.” Robinhood’s stock recovered from its morning lows of $46.53 and traded at $48.64 at press time, down less than 1%. “They’re getting into Asia, they’re getting into Europe,” the analyst said. “Their product velocity is the best one I’ve ever seen with Robinhood Gold. Pretty much every quarter there is something new and so I think over time what you are going to see is that they are not going to bifurcate from the volatility, but they’re going to fare better than the volatility.” Robinhood deserves credit for its aggressive push into what Dolev describes as a $600 billion total addressable market. The company is seeing strong results, notably from higher net-worth clients that typically flock to legacy platforms like Schwab and Interactive Brokers. “Three years ago everyone thought [Robinhood] was a joke for millennials,” Dolev said. “And now people are taking them really seriously. And I think their competitors are getting worried about them taking assets away.”