Crypto Loses Its Grip on Retail Crowd Now Defecting to Equities

For years, retail investors were crypto’s most reliable fuel — the dip-buyers, the memecoin speculators, the momentum traders that powered every rally. Now they’re moving on, stalling the demand engine that digital assets have depended on for a decade.

Speculative demand that once concentrated in crypto is being sucked into stocks, according to a new report from market-maker Wintermute that draws on JPMorgan Chase & Co. data. Since late 2024, retail has been steadily shifting toward equities, a trend that accelerated sharply after the October crypto crash, according to the report. It marks a break from the previous investing cycle when stocks and digital assets broadly moved in tandem as twin bets on risk appetite.