What’s driving Bitcoin adoption in 2026?

Trust in bitcoin has grown faster than that of any asset in history. What began as an experiment is now a globally recognized store-of-value, with adoption patterns that rival the internet.

Bitcoin is now held by millions of individuals, thousands of businesses, and several dozen governments around the world.

This report examines the key Bitcoin adoption trends over the past year.

We show that even in a period when bitcoin’s price declined, adoption continued to accelerate.

Executive Summary

The foundation remains strong

• By most metrics, the health of the Bitcoin network is more robust than ever. It consists of roughly 24,700 reachable nodes, growing by 14% in 2025.
• The Bitcoin network is now secured by more than 1 zetahash of computational power.
• Miner hashrate has grown by an average of 108% per year since 2016, with 35% growth in 2025.
• From a geographic perspective, bitcoin mining has never been more decentralized:
  • 34 countries > 0.1% of total hashrate (+8 in 2025)
  • 12 countries > 1% of hashrate (+3 in 2025)
• The top 3 mining pools have lost 12% market share over the past two years.

Bitcoin’s evolving ownership base

• Since 2023, long-term holders (defined as addresses holding bitcoin for 5 months or more) have moved over $750 billion worth of BTC.
• In 2025 alone, more than 1 million bitcoin were transferred from balances held for over two years to newer addresses.
• Individuals sold 696,000 BTC in 2025, while businesses, funds & ETFs, and governments bought nearly 1 million BTC.

Bitcoin is now mainstream on Wall St.

• 60% of the 25 largest U.S. banks are building bitcoin products.
• 90% of Barron’s Top 50 RIA Firms have a bitcoin allocation.
• 2,000+ U.S. advisory firms are allocated to bitcoin ETFs.
• 52% of the top 25 U.S. hedge funds have a bitcoin allocation.

Business adoption is broadening

• Businesses added $54B of bitcoin to their balance sheets in 2025. That’s more than every other year combined.
• Bitcoin treasury companies account for a majority of business holdings, with 866,000 BTC.
• Bitcoin adoption by public companies grew by 2.5X in 2025, with 194 public companies holding bitcoin on their balance sheets.
• Merchant adoption of bitcoin for payments grew by 74% in 2025.
• Business adoption on River grew by 116% in 2025.

Lightning volume grows 300% in 2025

• The Lightning Network surpassed $1 billion in monthly volume, and grew by 300% in 2025.
• The average transaction over the Lightning Network reached $223.
• Network capacity hit a new high in 2025 after 3 years of stagnation.

Nation-state adoption is accelerating

• 23 nation-states now own bitcoin, with 5 new owners in 2025.
• 49 countries have improved access to bitcoin through regulations since 2020, compared to just 4 that have restricted access.

Bitcoin’s transition to maturity

• Bitcoin has shown a decade-long trend of declining volatility, with its average daily price swings in 2025 approaching those of gold and the S&P 500.
• Bitcoin drew in $742 billion of new investment over its past bull market beginning in late 2022.
• Bitcoin is now 1.2% of global money.