Bitcoin breaks $104,000! This time it's not retail investors going crazy, but global capital is surging!

Bitcoin has surged again, breaking through $104,000. Although there was a slight 0.4% pullback in the last 24 hours, the overall upward momentum remains strong. However, the driving force behind this round of increases is no longer retail investors in South Korea, but rather global institutional forces that are now dominating the market.

South Korea falls silent, global institutions take over the market

Crypto analyst Avocado Onchain points out that the gap between prices on South Korean exchanges and the international market—known as the 'Korean premium'—continues to decline, indicating that local buying interest in South Korea is waning, and hot money has already shifted to international institutions.

Historically, South Korea has often sparked retail investor frenzies, especially in 2017 and 2021, when premiums reached as high as 20%. Now, even as Bitcoin breaks through key resistance levels, prices in South Korea remain calm, indicating that the main players in this bull market have changed.

ETFs and sovereign funds are taking action, retail investors no longer dominate the landscape

With the launch of the US spot ETF and various institutions entering the market, the Bitcoin market is moving towards 'de-retailization.' Avocado notes that even if the Korean premium rises by 10% in the future, it may be seen as overheating rather than the start of a trend.

Institutional investors not only have substantial capital but are also more focused on macro policies and capital allocation. This injects stronger certainty into Bitcoin's future trajectory and may lead to a longer-lasting, but less volatile, upward cycle.

The market is undergoing a transformation: new logic is on the way

The characteristics of this bull market have fundamentally changed—it is no longer driven by speculative enthusiasm and social media sentiment, but rather by asset allocation, fund positioning, monetary policy, and global economic dynamics.

Traditional retail signals like the Korean premium are losing their reference value. In the future, Bitcoin's sharp fluctuations may no longer be driven by Asian retail investors chasing profits but rather by asset allocation trends from Wall Street, central banks, and sovereign capital.

Conclusion: This is not an old-fashioned bull market, but a crypto version of a Wall Street revolution.

Speculators hoping to bet on new trends with old thinking may need to reassess who the real 'new big players' in Bitcoin are.