Bitcoin’s adoption by institutions, banks, merchants, public companies, and nation-states has boomed in 2025, despite the recent price drawdown, says the financial services company River.
“There is no bear market in Bitcoin adoption,” River said in a report published on Tuesday, which noted that while Bitcoin ($BTC) is down 50% from its all-time high, “adoption is compounding in ways that aren’t affecting the price, yet.”
“Trust in Bitcoin has grown faster than that of any asset in history,” it said. “What began as an experiment is now a globally recognized store-of-value, with adoption patterns that rival the internet.”
Institutional, banking and public company adoption
River reported that institutions accumulated 829,000 $BTC in 2025, including purchases by businesses, governments, funds, and exchange-traded funds.
Registered investment advisors have been net buying $BTC for eight quarters in a row and have invested roughly $1.5 billion in Bitcoin ETFs per quarter over the past two years, River said.
It noted that these institutions represent “millions of underlying individuals” gaining exposure to Bitcoin for the first time through brokerage accounts, retirement plans, sovereign funds and corporate balance sheets.
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Additionally, 60% of the top US banks are building Bitcoin products. “With a favorable regulatory environment in the US, banks can now custody Bitcoin and offer Bitcoin products to their customers,” it stated.
Businesses were the largest buyers of $BTC in 2025, with a majority of purchases driven by crypto treasury companies, whose adoption grew 2.5 times last year.
Merchant adoption and payments accelerate
Merchant adoption also surged with the number of businesses in the US accepting Bitcoin for payments tripling, while global usage grew by 74% in 2025, it noted.
Bitcoin payments on the Lightning Network grew by 300% in 2025 and, according to River’s estimations, the network is now processing over $1.1 billion in monthly transaction volume.
Five nation-states became new owners of Bitcoin in 2025, including purchases from two sovereign wealth funds in Luxembourg and Saudi Arabia, and from one central bank in the Czech Republic. The other two were Brazil and Taiwan.
River estimates that 23 nation-states hold Bitcoin through state-backed mining, seizures, or central bank exposure.
Bitcoin volatility is in decline
River said that Bitcoin volatility is also declining, nearing that of gold and the S&P 500, signaling that it is “increasingly viewed as a mature asset class.”
“As volatility falls, the hurdle for more risk-averse investors declines,” it said. “Over time, that opens the door to larger pools of capital.”
River added that Bitcoin is built on trust and claimed it is the world’s “only scarce and incorruptible form of digital money.”
“We expect that in the coming years, Bitcoin adoption will not only continue its current trend, but meaningfully accelerate.”
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