Ignoring Price Noise, Bitcoin Adoption Is in Full Bloom
- Core View: Despite Bitcoin's weak price performance, its actual adoption continues to accelerate across multiple key dimensions, including participation from institutions, corporations, merchants, and sovereign nations, laying a more solid foundation for its long-term value.
- Key Elements:
- Institutions accumulated an additional 829,000 Bitcoins in 2025, with corporations becoming the largest buyers, and public company adoption grew by 2.5 times.
- Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) have been net buyers of Bitcoin ETFs for eight consecutive quarters, with 29 out of the top 30 US RIAs already allocating to them.
- Global merchant adoption grew by 74% in 2025, with the number of US businesses accepting Bitcoin payments tripling.
- The Lightning Network grew by 300% in 2025, processing over $1.1 billion in monthly transaction volume, primarily driven by organic adoption from exchanges and merchants.
- Five new sovereign nations added Bitcoin to their holdings in 2025, and there have been zero national bans on Bitcoin for four consecutive years since 2022.
- Bitcoin's volatility has been declining for a decade, now approaching the levels of gold and the S&P 500, lowering the entry barrier for risk-averse capital.
Despite Bitcoin's price being down 50% from its all-time high, its adoption continues to grow, even if it's not reflected in the price. The following 8 major adoption trends might surprise you.
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 Been 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 crypto-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.
Looking Ahead
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.
