Ignoring Price Noise, Bitcoin Adoption Is in Full Bloom

Institutions Are Buying Bitcoin at a Record Pace

In 2025, various institutions cumulatively added 829,000 Bitcoins to their holdings, including corporations, governments, funds, and ETFs.

Importantly, these institutions represent millions of ordinary investors who are gaining exposure to Bitcoin for the first time through brokerage accounts, pensions, sovereign wealth funds, and corporate balance sheets.

Who sold Bitcoin to them?

The selling pressure in 2025 primarily came from long-term holders and whales—early participants who accumulated their positions years ago and are now gradually distributing them in a deeper, more liquid market. If this trend continues, institutions could hold the majority of the circulating supply within a decade, but currently, individuals still control about two-thirds of the supply.

They ultimately determine the marginal price at which institutions can build positions. Institutional entry does not replace individual ownership; it expands the overall market’s on-ramp. Many of today’s ETF holders will become tomorrow’s self-custody users.

Investment Advisors Have 蜂n Net Buyers for 8 Consecutive Quarters

Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) represent the world’s largest group of investors, managing approximately $146 trillion in client assets. They have only just begun allocating to Bitcoin since the launch of spot ETFs in 2024. Even in these early stages, their behavior has been remarkably positive:

Over the past two years, RIAs have invested roughly $1.5 billion per quarter into Bitcoin ETFs, without a single quarter of net selling.

Bitcoin adoption among RIAs is widespread: 29 out of the top 30 RIAs in the US have allocated to Bitcoin, but the average allocation is extremely low, at just 0.008%.

60% of Top US Banks Are Building Bitcoin Products

Following a more favorable regulatory environment in the US, banks can now custody Bitcoin and offer Bitcoin products to their clients.

Public Company Adoption Grew 2.5x in 2025

In 2025, corporations became the largest buyers of Bitcoin, primarily driven by 暗号-native treasury companies.

Beyond dedicated crypto treasury firms, a significant number of large corporations have also been quietly and incrementally adding Bitcoin to their balance sheets.

This type of corporate adoption is expected to become widespread among S&P 500 constituents in the coming years.

Merchant Adoption Grew 74% in 2025

The number of US businesses accepting Bitcoin payments tripled, with global usage growing by 74%. Companies like Steak ‘n Shake have demonstrated that Bitcoin payments can reduce transaction costs and increase profits.

These businesses are mostly small to medium-sized private companies that do not publicly disclose their Bitcoin strategies. River, serving over 3,000 businesses across industries, has witnessed firsthand that adoption growth is most rapid among small private firms.

The Lightning Network Grew 300% in 2025

Estimates suggest the Lightning Network now processes over $1.1 billion in monthly transaction volume. Growth is primarily driven by organic adoption from exchanges and merchants.

5 New Sovereign Nations Now Hold Bitcoin

In 2025, five more nations became Bitcoin holders, including: 2 sovereign wealth funds (Luxembourg, Saudi Arabia) and 1 central bank (Czech National Bank).

These nations acquired Bitcoin through official mining, direct purchases by central banks/funds, ETFs, donations, seizures, and hacker recoveries.

Furthermore, it has been 4 years since any country banned Bitcoin (since Afghanistan in 2022). Clearly, embracing Bitcoin aligns with the best interests of nations.

Bitcoin Is No Longer “Too Volatile”

Bitcoin has continued its decade-long trend of declining volatility, approaching levels seen in gold and the S&P 500.

Why is this important? It signals that Bitcoin is being viewed as a mature asset class. Lower volatility lowers the barrier to entry for risk-averse capital.

In the long term, this unlocks larger pools of capital. The last bull cycle proved that Bitcoin attracted more capital in three years than in its entire prior history combined.

将来に向けて

Despite Bitcoin’s weak price performance over the past year, the adoption curve tells a completely different story. Current adoption won’t cause the price to skyrocket 10x overnight, but in many ways, it is more meaningful.

Each year, trust in Bitcoin deepens among individuals, corporations, institutions, and sovereign nations because it continues to prove itself as the world’s only scarce, immutable digital currency. We expect Bitcoin adoption not only to continue its current trends in the coming years but to accelerate significantly.

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