These four signs suggest retail investors want Bitcoin and crypto

It isn't a secret that capital inflows from retail investors are what drove Bitcoin's previous bull runs; if you were around for the 2016-2018 cycle, you likely remember the mania on mainstream media regarding cryptocurrency, the conversations with your friends and family about the blockchain flavor of the week, and so on and so forth.

Four pieces of evidence suggest that retail investor interest in cryptocurrencies is back on the rise, boding well for the long-term bull trend that analysts hope is in the midst of forming.

Evidence #1: everyone wants to buy Grayscale's Bitcoin Trust.

While Grayscale's investor base is dominated by institutional investors, a number of commentators on Twitter have noted that GBTC's strong premium to spot BTC, coupled with the increase in volumes as depicted above, is a clear sign that mom-and-pop investors are once again clamoring for cryptocurrency exposure.

Retail investors are more likely to buy GBTC at a high premium than institutions, who can access Bitcoin through established futures markets like the CME or through institutional service providers like Fidelity Investments.

Late last month, analyst CryptoKea noted that search interest for "Buy Bitcoin" just recently reached a seven-month high, reaching a level of "10" per his analysis.

1/ Googling for "Buy Bitcoin" just reached a 7 months high.

Not to mention, CryptoSlate found that interest from Googlers in "Altcoin," "Bitcoin halving," "Ethereum," amongst other terms, have started to grow.

This piece of evidence is largely anecdotal, but this writer has noticed a strong uptick in mainstream media outlets covering Bitcoin and the broader industry.

Like all media, these mainstream outlets cover what their readers want to read, meaning more Bitcoin articles equals more interest from the public in Bitcoin.