According to Charlie Bilello, US Retail Sales have risen 3.9% year over year while US Consumer Sentiment has fallen to near record lows, creating the widest gap on record between spending and sentiment (video referenced), source: Charlie Bilello on X, Nov 28, 2025. The retail sales growth cited is tracked by the U.S. Census Bureau’s Advance Monthly Retail Trade Report, a primary measure of consumer spending momentum, source: U.S. Census Bureau. The sentiment data is measured by the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index, a widely followed gauge of household outlook used by traders, source: University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers. For crypto and broader risk assets, elevated post-2020 correlations between Bitcoin and equities mean macro data shocks in consumption and sentiment can transmit to BTC and ETH price action, source: International Monetary Fund analysis on crypto–equity correlation.

According to @KobeissiLetter, US consumer sentiment among non-stockholders has fallen to the lowest level since the University of Michigan began tracking in 1998, dropping about 10 points in recent months. According to @KobeissiLetter, sentiment among the largest stockholders improved by roughly 10 points over the same period to near year-to-date highs, widening the gap between stockholders and non-stockholders to about 20 points, the most since late 2024. According to @KobeissiLetter, job market concerns are at their highest since the 1980s while the S&P 500 trades near all-time highs. According to @KobeissiLetter, this participation split suggests the stock market boom is leaving Main Street behind, a divergence traders can factor into liquidity, breadth, and risk assessment across equities and crypto-correlated assets such as BTC and ETH.

According to Fox News, FBI Director @Kash_Patel has labeled the recent smuggling of a dangerous biological pathogen by two Chinese nationals into the United States as a 'direct threat to national security,' following their charges on Tuesday for attempting to study at the University of Michigan (source: Fox News, June 3, 2025). This event has raised immediate concerns about increased regulatory scrutiny and potential global risk-off sentiment, which could drive short-term volatility in cryptocurrency prices as investors react to heightened geopolitical and biosecurity risks.