Ignoring Price Noise, Bitcoin Adoption Has Fully Blossomed
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Ignoring Price Noise, Bitcoin Adoption Has Fully Blossomed
Although Bitcoin’s price performance has been weak over the past year, the adoption curve tells a completely different story.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy River
Translated by Chopper, Foresight News
Although Bitcoin’s price has fallen 50% from its all-time high, its adoption continues to grow steadily—just not yet reflected in the price. Below are eight adoption trends that may surprise you.
Institutions Are Buying Bitcoin at a Record Pace
In 2025, institutions—including corporations, governments, funds, and ETFs—collectively acquired 829,000 BTC.
Critically, these institutions represent millions of ordinary investors who are gaining their first exposure to Bitcoin via brokerage accounts, pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, and corporate balance sheets.
Who sold Bitcoin to them?
The 2025 sell-side came primarily from long-term holders and whales—early participants who accumulated Bitcoin years ago and are now gradually offloading it into a deeper, more liquid market. If this trend continues, institutions could hold the majority of Bitcoin’s circulating supply within a decade—though individuals still control roughly two-thirds of the total supply today.
They ultimately determine the marginal price at which institutions can accumulate. Institutional entry does not displace individual holders; rather, it expands the entire market’s on-ramp. Many of today’s ETF holders will become self-custodial users in the future.
Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) Have Net-Bought for 8 Consecutive Quarters
Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) constitute the world’s largest investor cohort, managing approximately $146 trillion in client assets. Since the launch of Bitcoin ETFs in 2024, they have only just begun allocating—but even at this early stage, their behavior is remarkably active:
Over the past two years, RIAs have invested roughly $1.5 billion per quarter into Bitcoin ETFs—without a single net-sell quarter.
Bitcoin adoption among RIAs is widespread: 29 of the top 30 U.S. RIAs now hold Bitcoin—but average allocations remain extremely low, at just 0.008%.
60% of Top U.S. Banks Are Building Bitcoin Products
With the U.S. regulatory environment warming, banks can now custody Bitcoin and offer Bitcoin products to clients.
Corporate Adoption Rate Grew 2.5x in 2025
In 2025, corporations became Bitcoin’s largest buyers—led by crypto treasury firms.
Beyond dedicated crypto treasury firms, numerous large enterprises are quietly and incrementally accumulating Bitcoin.
Such corporate adoption is poised to become ubiquitous across S&P 500 constituents over the next several years.
Merchant Adoption Rate Rose 74% in 2025
The number of U.S. businesses accepting Bitcoin payments tripled, while global adoption rose 74%. Companies like Steak ’n Shake have demonstrated that Bitcoin payments reduce transaction costs and boost profitability.
Most of these adopters are small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that do not publicly disclose their Bitcoin strategies. River serves over 3,000 businesses across industries—and has observed the most rapid adoption growth among small private companies.
Lightning Network Grew 300% in 2025
The Lightning Network now processes over $1.1 billion in monthly transaction volume. Growth stems largely from organic adoption by exchanges and merchants.
Five New Sovereign Nations Added Bitcoin to Reserves
In 2025, five additional nations joined the ranks of Bitcoin holders—including two sovereign wealth funds (Luxembourg and Saudi Arabia) and one central bank (the Czech National Bank).
These nations acquired Bitcoin through official mining, direct purchases by central banks or funds, ETFs, donations, asset seizures, and recovered hacker proceeds.
Moreover, no country has banned Bitcoin since Afghanistan in 2022—a full four years. Clearly, embracing Bitcoin aligns with national interests.
Bitcoin Is No Longer “Too Volatile”
Bitcoin has sustained a decade-long decline in volatility—and is now approaching levels comparable to gold and the S&P 500.
Why does this matter? It signals Bitcoin’s maturation as an asset class. Lower volatility lowers the barrier to entry for risk-averse capital.
Long term, this opens access to vastly larger pools of capital. The last bull market proved that Bitcoin attracted more capital in three years than in its entire prior history combined.
Looking Ahead
Although Bitcoin’s price performance has been weak over the past year, the adoption curve tells a completely different story. Current adoption won’t trigger an overnight 10x price surge—but in many ways, it carries far greater significance.
Each year, individuals, enterprises, institutions, and sovereign nations deepen their trust in Bitcoin—as it continues to prove itself the world’s only scarce, immutable digital currency. We expect Bitcoin adoption not only to continue along its current trajectory over the coming years, but also to accelerate significantly.
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