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Bitcoin spent much of 2025 trading well below its all-time highs, testing patience across the market. Prices were down roughly 50% from peak levels at points during the year – adoption moved in the opposite direction. New data from financial services firm River shows Bitcoin usage and ownership expanded across eight major metrics, suggesting the network kept growing, even while the market looked flat.
This split between price and participation matters; widening adoption without a price response reveals who’s buying, who’s selling, and how Bitcoin is being absorbed into larger financial systems.
— River (@River) February 24, 2026
River reported that institutions which include public companies, funds, governments, and spot Bitcoin ETFs, accumulated about 829,000 bitcoin during 2025. These channels exposed millions of people to bitcoin through brokerage accounts, retirement plans, and corporate balance sheets, often without those users directly owning the asset.
Registered investment advisors (RIAs), who manage a staggering $146 trillion in global client assets, represent a massive engine of steady demand. Since spot ETFs debuted in 2024, RIAs have consistently funneled nearly $1.5 billion per quarter into Bitcoin—a streak that has now lasted eight consecutive quarters without a single period of net selling.
Despite this persistence, average client allocations remain remarkably low at just 0.008%. This suggests that Bitcoin has significant room for structural growth within professional portfolios, even without assuming any aggressive shift in investor sentiment.
Roughly 60% of top US banks are now building bitcoin-related products, according to River, as regulatory clarity has allowed banks to custody bitcoin and offer related services that pull the asset deeper into existing financial rails.
Public company adoption accelerated at the same time. River estimates corporate bitcoin adoption grew about 2.5 times in 2025, driven largely by treasury-focused firms. Beyond that group, several large companies added bitcoin quietly in smaller sizes. River expects this pattern to spread further across major equity indexes rather than remain limited to a few high-profile buyers.
Merchant adoption showed some of the clearest growth. The number of US businesses accepting bitcoin payments tripled in 2025, while global usage rose 74%, based on River’s estimates. River serves more than 3,000 businesses and says the strongest growth came from small, private firms focused on lowering payment costs.
The Lightning Network followed the same path, with River estimating it processed more than $1.1 billion in monthly transaction volume by the end of 2025, up about 300% year over year. Exchange integrations played a large role, pushing Lightning beyond small payments into higher-value transfers.
Bitcoin's Lightning Network exceeds $1B in monthly transaction volume. pic.twitter.com/USmosCQ1gM
— River (@River) February 19, 2026
Five additional countries became bitcoin holders in 2025, including exposure linked to sovereign wealth funds in Luxembourg and Saudi Arabia and purchases tied to the Czech Republic’s central bank. River estimates 23 nation-states now hold bitcoin through mining, seizures, direct purchases, or investment vehicles.
At the same time, Bitcoin volatility continued a decade-long decline, edging closer to levels seen in gold and major stock indexes. Reduced volatility lowers barriers for risk-conscious investors, even if it removes the sharp price moves many traders expect.
The takeaway isn’t a hidden bull run, with River noting that this kind of adoption rarely produces fast price spikes. What you see instead is Bitcoin being absorbed into institutions, businesses, and governments at a pace that doesn’t depend on hype. If that trend holds, price may end up following adoption rather than leading it.
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