Retail investors are piling into equities at a historic pace: Cumulative retail equity inflows year-to-date are tracking above every comparable period over the last 7 years, except 2021. After a brief pause in March, retail purchases surged in April to a level seen only 13% of the time in monthly data since 2019. In the week ending May 1st, retail purchases ranked in the top 2% of all weekly inflows recorded since 2019. At this pace, cumulative purchases by individual investors will exceed the 2021 record by as early as July. Furthermore, the average daily volume of options traded by retail investors is up to 1.57x of January 2024 levels, the highest since the October 2025 record. Risk appetite among retail investors is accelerating.

Retail drives frequency. Institutions drive volume. One network, both served. 52.8% of USDT0 transfers are under $1K. The top 1.8% above $1M account for 68.8% of all volume moved. Two different user bases. Same infrastructure.

US retail sales rose at a slower pace in April with the value of retail purchases increasing 0.5% last month after a revised 1.6% gain in March. Excluding gas stations, sales rose 0.3%. Michael McKee reports