- Despite market volatility, more retail investors are entering the crypto market.
- The trend is particularly noticeable among younger investors and those influenced by social media and fear of missing out (FOMO).
- The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) emphasizes the need for better investor education to address risks like scams and lack of regulation.
- Fueled by retail investors, Tron ($TRX) maintains stability, outperforming major cryptos such as Bitcoin.
Bitcoin hasn’t launched a major post-halving run.
Ethereum remains stuck in a rut.
Typical crypto volatility hasn’t gone anywhere – in fact, it may be even more intense.
And the classic crypto Fear & Greed index is solidly in the ‘paranoid’ category, with a score of 37/100. So why are retail investors coming back to crypto? And what’s up with Tron ($TRX)?
Time for a closer look.
IOSCO Report Highlights Retail’s Return
Retail investors last made huge waves in the 2021 bull run, fueled by pandemic cash. When the market turned south, many vanished.
Now, they’re starting to come back despite the turmoil and uncertainty. A recent report from IOSCOs highlighted an ongoing demographic shift in crypto investors.
Retail investors – especially those under 40 – are increasingly participating in crypto trading.
Part of that increase is due to a broader, generalized growth in crypto investment since the last IOSCO report in 2019.
IOSCO found an intriguing reason for the surge in retail investors:
…many individuals who are new to investing were motivated to invest because of crypto-assets.IOSCO
Crypto as a gateway to investing makes a strange kind of sense because it’s fueled by three factors rarely seen in traditional investing:
- Fear of missing out
- Low cost of entry
- Advice from friends and social media
It’s possible that traditional investing is gaining some of those characteristics – Robinhood and Gamestop come to mind. However, there’s no stock market equivalent to crypto Twitter or memecoin degens pressuring each other to sink money into Peter Todd’s sarcastic, imaginary cat.
IOSCO also noted that those same factors can leave investors vulnerable to market risks, including scams and market manipulation.
In the meantime, retail investors continue to reignite a crypto market with some unexpected winners.
Tron Fights For the Users (and Wins)
Tron ($TRX) exemplifies how individual cryptocurrencies are performing well, even when broader market conditions waver.
$TRX recently maintained stability above the $0.15 mark, outperforming other major assets like Bitcoin over the course of the year.
Technical indicators reveal that $TRX might keep increasing if it surpasses resistance at $0.16. Support levels at $0.1570 and $0.1550 are crucial, as they could dictate how $TRX reacts to future market shifts.
Why Tron? There’s no real consensus, but one short-term factor might be the community’s recent burn of over 11M tokens.
Beyond that, $TRX has had a good 2024, nearly doubling from $0.089 in November 2023 to $0.159 currently. And remember, Tron lacks the broader institutional support enjoyed by $BTC and $ETH (in the form of ETFs), which could indicate a more retail-oriented user base.
It’s also worth noting that Tron holds over $60B of the stablecoin market cap on-chain in the form of $USDT. That’s over a third of the total stablecoin market cap.
It’s one of the ways Tether and Tron have quietly been finding success.
Verdict – Education Needed To Navigate Turmoil
IOSCO’s call for better investor education and regulatory frameworks remains vital as more retail investors navigate the complex world of cryptocurrency.
Investing is risky, and crypto investing carries its own challenges. For evidence, look no further than the Tron chain itself – where a celeb investor accidentally sent $500K $SUNDOG to the wrong address and burnt it.
Justin Sun (Tron’s founder) remedied the mistake by sending Ty another $500K. However, the incident illustrated how easily crypto investing can crash even with a thriving market.
As crypto continues to expand, educating retail participants on the volatility and risks involved, even with solid investment strategies, is critical.
References
- Retail investors increasingly buying crypto despite volatility (Cointelegraph)
- Tron (TRX) Holds Green as Markets Fall (NewsBTC)
- Investor Education on Crypto Assets (IOSCO)
