River says Bitcoin adoption will hit an all-time high in 2025.

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Financial services company River said Bitcoin adoption by institutions, banks, merchants, public companies and nation-states will surge in 2025, despite recent price declines.

“There is no bear market in Bitcoin adoption. Although Bitcoin (BTC) is down 50% from its all-time highs, adoption is compounding in a way that has not yet impacted price,” River said in a report published Tuesday.

“Trust in Bitcoin has grown faster than any other asset in history,” he said. “What began as an experiment has now become a globally recognized store of value, with adoption patterns rivaling the Internet.”

*Bitcoin has now become a mainstay on Wall Street. source:* *river*

Adoption by institutions, banks and public enterprises

River reported that institutions, including purchases by corporations, governments, funds, and exchange-traded funds, accumulated 829,000 BTC in 2025.

Registered investment advisors have been net buyers of BTC for eight consecutive quarters and have invested about $1.5 billion per quarter in Bitcoin ETFs over the past two years, Lieber said.

It noted that these institutions represent “millions of primary individuals” who were exposed 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 creating Bitcoin products. “Due to the favorable regulatory environment in the United States, banks can now store Bitcoin and offer Bitcoin products to their customers,” it said.

Corporations were the largest buyers of BTC in 2025, with most purchases driven by cryptocurrency treasury firms, whose adoption has increased 2.5x in the past year.

*A public company that holds Bitcoin. source:* *river*

Accelerate merchant adoption and payments

Merchant adoption has also surged as the number of businesses accepting Bitcoin as a payment method in the U.S. has tripled, with global usage expected to increase 74% by 2025.

Bitcoin payments on the Lightning Network will increase by 300% in 2025, and the network is currently processing more than $1.1 billion in monthly transaction volume, according to River’s estimates.

In 2025, five countries will become new owners of Bitcoin, including two sovereign wealth funds in Luxembourg and Saudi Arabia and purchases made by a central bank in the Czech Republic. The other two were Brazil and Taiwan.

River estimates that 23 countries hold Bitcoin through state-backed mining, seizures, or central bank exposure.

Bitcoin volatility is decreasing

Lieber said Bitcoin volatility is also decreasing to the level of gold and the S&P 500, meaning Bitcoin is “increasingly seen as a mature asset class.”

“As volatility decreases, the hurdle for risk-averse investors decreases,” he said. “Over time, it opens the door to larger pools of capital.”