Bitcoin News Today: Bitcoin's Supply Race: Institutions Outpace Miners by 4x

Businesses and institutional investors are absorbing Bitcoin at a rate four times faster than new coins are being mined, according to a report by River, a Bitcoin financial services company. The firm noted that private businesses, public companies, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) collectively purchased thousands of BTC per day on average in 2025, with businesses and governments acquiring 1,755 BTC and 39 BTC respectively on a daily basis. ETFs added an additional 1,430 BTC per day to institutional and investor portfolios during the same period.

Bitcoin’s daily production from mining operations, on the other hand, remains significantly lower at approximately 450 new BTC per day. This imbalance raises concerns about a potential supply shock, particularly as Bitcoin exchange reserves—the total amount of BTC held on exchanges—have dropped to multi-year lows. This trend, observed by data firm CryptoQuant, suggests a continued shift of Bitcoin from exchange holdings into institutional treasuries and long-term storage.

Bitcoin treasury companies, which include publicly traded firms with large Bitcoin holdings, played a major role in this increased absorption. These companies acquired 159,107 BTC in Q2 2025 alone, bringing the total amount of Bitcoin held by businesses to approximately 1.3 million BTC. Michael Saylor’s Strategy remains the largest known Bitcoin holder, with a corporate reserve of 632,457 BTC. Analysts have speculated that Strategy’s accumulation efforts are effectively reducing the circulating supply of Bitcoin at a pace similar to a halving event.

The company's corporate treasury officer, Shirish Jajodia, has clarified that Strategy's large-scale Bitcoin purchases are executed through over-the-counter (OTC) transactions and do not directly impact spot market prices. Jajodia emphasized that the company spreads out its purchases over extended periods and in large volumes, minimizing short-term market volatility. “Bitcoin’s trading volume is over $50 billion in any 24 hours — that’s huge volume,” he noted, adding that a $1 billion purchase over a few days is unlikely to move the market significantly.

The growing institutional demand for Bitcoin is supported by broader structural trends. On-chain metrics indicate that exchange reserves have been declining since early 2024, reflecting a shift of Bitcoin into cold storage and long-term holdings. Additionally, spot ETFs now hold more than 1.3 million BTC, further removing liquidity from exchanges. The decline in exchange-held supply coincides with a drop in the Network Value to Transaction (NVT) ratio, which has fallen 23% to 23.7, indicating healthier network activity relative to Bitcoin’s market capitalization.

While short-term price volatility remains a concern, analysts continue to highlight the long-term bullish implications of reduced Bitcoin supply. Some draw comparisons between the current market conditions and historical patterns, such as the 2017 Bitcoin consolidation phase before its parabolic rise to $20,000. The convergence of tightening supply, macroeconomic tailwinds from potential Federal Reserve rate cuts, and emerging Bitcoin-native DeFi (BTCfi) innovation could reinforce Bitcoin’s role as a store of value and financial infrastructure asset.

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