Crypto trader Binance ranked among the largest cryptocurrency exchangers in the world in 2024, with trading volume that was about four times as high as Bybit or OKX. It should be noted that these figures are separate from platforms Binance.US, Binance TR or Binance.KR. The platform from the Cayman Islands faced investigations from the U.S. SEC, which came to a head in November 2023. Binance did not rank as the most used cryptocurrency exchanges used by consumers in the United States. Binance's settlement with the U.S. In November 2023, Binance agreed to pay a four billion U.S. dollar settlement with United States agencies — one of the biggest corporate fines in U.S. history. The U.S. Department of Justice investigated the platform for years for failure to prevent money laundering and growing crypto theft. The company's founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to the charges, agreeing to step down. Zhao would remain as the company's majority shareholder. The U.S. Treasury announced Binance will be subject to five years of monitoring and “significant compliance undertakings, including to ensure Binance’s complete exit from the United States.” Mixed signals from crypto companies The Binance settlement occurred in a month when overall crypto trading volume recorded its highest numbers for all of 2023. One of the main causes is the sudden popularity of FTT, a token released by FTX — the company founded by Sam Bankman-Fried. The developments surrounding Binance caused investors to move away from Binance's stablecoin BNB to the stablecoin from FTX. Earlier in November 2023, however, Coinbase saw its shares fall after announcing its quarterly performance figures.

A United States consumer survey suggests that Coinbase was more popular for crypto trading in 2023 than Robinhood and Crypto.com combined. More than *** out of 10 U.S. crypto owners indicated in February 2023 they used Coinbase as a platform. This is similar to information on which crypto wallets are popular in the United States, where Coinbase also ranked as a popular platform based on daily active users. The source of this particular ranking, however, did not ask additional questions on how these platforms are used, such as for buying or selling, or only for cryptocurrency storage.

As of November 2024, FameEX was the largest South Korean cryptocurrency exchange with a 24-hour trading volume of around 8.7 billion U.S. dollars. Upbit and OKX followed with around 7.6 billion and 5.3 billion dollars, respectively. The Korean cryptocurrency market has grown extensively over the past few years, then the market capitalization and transaction amount began to decrease in 2022.

The global cryptocurrency exchange and platform market is experiencing robust growth, driven by increasing cryptocurrency adoption, technological advancements, and the expanding regulatory landscape. While precise market sizing data wasn't provided, considering the presence of major players like Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken, and the rapid expansion of the overall crypto market, a reasonable estimate for the 2025 market size would be in the range of $10 billion USD. A Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 20% between 2025 and 2033 is a plausible projection, reflecting continued innovation and mainstream interest. Key drivers include the rise of decentralized finance (DeFi), institutional investment in cryptocurrencies, and the growing demand for secure and user-friendly trading platforms. Emerging trends such as the integration of blockchain technology into traditional financial systems, the proliferation of mobile-first trading apps, and the development of regulatory frameworks to enhance investor protection are further shaping the market. However, restraints include regulatory uncertainty in various jurisdictions, security concerns related to cryptocurrency exchanges, and the inherent volatility of the cryptocurrency market itself. The market is segmented by application (SMEs and large enterprises) and type (cloud-based and on-premises solutions), each presenting unique opportunities and challenges for market participants. The geographical distribution reveals significant potential across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, with variations in adoption rates and regulatory landscapes impacting regional growth trajectories. The future of cryptocurrency exchanges and platforms hinges on addressing security vulnerabilities, adapting to evolving regulatory frameworks, and catering to a diverse range of users, from individual investors to institutional players. The increasing demand for sophisticated trading tools, advanced analytics, and integrated DeFi services will drive innovation and competition within the sector. Furthermore, strategic partnerships between established financial institutions and cryptocurrency platforms are likely to play a crucial role in enhancing market penetration and accelerating mainstream adoption. The convergence of traditional finance and decentralized technologies will continue to reshape the market landscape, creating both opportunities and challenges for established players and new entrants alike. Ongoing developments in blockchain technology, such as improved scalability and efficiency, will also significantly influence the future trajectory of the crypto exchange and platform market.

The Cryptocurrency Exchange Development Services market is experiencing robust growth, driven by the increasing adoption of cryptocurrencies and the expanding decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem. The market, estimated at $2 billion in 2025, is projected to exhibit a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 25% from 2025 to 2033, reaching approximately $10 billion by 2033. Several factors fuel this expansion. Firstly, the surging demand for secure and user-friendly cryptocurrency exchange platforms is compelling businesses to invest in sophisticated development services. Secondly, the rise of DeFi applications, NFTs, and related technologies necessitates specialized exchange development catering to these niche markets. Furthermore, regulatory clarity in certain jurisdictions is fostering a more favorable environment for cryptocurrency exchange operations, further stimulating growth. The market is segmented by application (Finance & Investment, Gaming, Art & Collectibles, etc.) and by type of exchange (Centralized, Decentralized, Hybrid, etc.), reflecting the diverse needs and technological innovations within the cryptocurrency space. The North American market currently holds the largest share, due to high cryptocurrency adoption and a robust technological infrastructure. However, Asia-Pacific is anticipated to witness significant growth in the coming years driven by rapid technological advancements and rising user bases in countries like India and China. Competition is fierce, with numerous established and emerging players vying for market share. Successful firms emphasize scalability, security, regulatory compliance, and the ability to integrate with a wide range of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies. Despite the impressive growth trajectory, certain restraints exist. These include the volatility inherent in the cryptocurrency market, regulatory uncertainties in various regions, and the ongoing challenges in ensuring robust cybersecurity measures to prevent hacking and fraud. The evolution of blockchain technology and the emergence of new cryptographic protocols will also continue to shape the demand for updated and advanced exchange development services. Companies must adapt to remain competitive, focusing on innovation, security, and compliance to capitalize on the burgeoning opportunities within this dynamic landscape. The intense competition within the market necessitates strategic partnerships and continuous development of new functionalities to attract and retain clients.

In March 2024 Bitcoin BTC reached a new all-time high with prices exceeding 73000 USD marking a milestone for the cryptocurrency market This surge was due to the approval of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds ETFs in the United States allowing investors to access Bitcoin without directly holding it This development increased Bitcoin’s credibility and brought fresh demand from institutional investors echoing previous price surges in 2021 when Tesla announced its 15 billion investment in Bitcoin and Coinbase was listed on the Nasdaq By the end of 2022 Bitcoin prices dropped sharply to 15000 USD following the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX and its bankruptcy which caused a loss of confidence in the market By August 2024 Bitcoin rebounded to approximately 64178 USD but remained volatile due to inflation and interest rate hikes Unlike fiat currency like the US dollar Bitcoin’s supply is finite with 21 million coins as its maximum supply By September 2024 over 92 percent of Bitcoin had been mined Bitcoin’s value is tied to its scarcity and its mining process is regulated through halving events which cut the reward for mining every four years making it harder and more energy-intensive to mine The next halving event in 2024 will reduce the reward to 3125 BTC from its current 625 BTC The final Bitcoin is expected to be mined around 2140 The energy required to mine Bitcoin has led to criticisms about its environmental impact with estimates in 2021 suggesting that one Bitcoin transaction used as much energy as Argentina Bitcoin’s future price is difficult to predict due to the influence of large holders known as whales who own about 92 percent of all Bitcoin These whales can cause dramatic market swings by making large trades and many retail investors still dominate the market While institutional interest has grown it remains a small fraction compared to retail Bitcoin is vulnerable to external factors like regulatory changes and economic crises leading some to believe it is in a speculative bubble However others argue that Bitcoin is still in its early stages of adoption and will grow further as more institutions and governments recognize its potential as a hedge against inflation and a store of value 2024 has also seen the rise of Bitcoin Layer 2 technologies like the Lightning Network which improve scalability by enabling faster and cheaper transactions These innovations are crucial for Bitcoin’s wider adoption especially for day-to-day use and cross-border remittances At the same time central bank digital currencies CBDCs are gaining traction as several governments including China and the European Union have accelerated the development of their own state-controlled digital currencies while Bitcoin remains decentralized offering financial sovereignty for those who prefer independence from government control The rise of CBDCs is expected to increase interest in Bitcoin as a hedge against these centralized currencies Bitcoin’s journey in 2024 highlights its growing institutional acceptance alongside its inherent market volatility While the approval of Bitcoin ETFs has significantly boosted interest the market remains sensitive to events like exchange collapses and regulatory decisions With the limited supply of Bitcoin and improvements in its transaction efficiency it is expected to remain a key player in the financial world for years to come Whether Bitcoin is currently in a speculative bubble or on a sustainable path to greater adoption will ultimately be revealed over time.

Crypto trader Binance ranked among the largest cryptocurrency exchangers in the world in 2024, with trading volume that was several times as high as Bybit or OKX. It should be noted that these figures are separate from platforms Binance.US, Binance TR or Binance.KR. The platform from the Cayman Islands faced investigations from the U.S. SEC, which came to a head in November 2023. Binance did not rank as the most used cryptocurrency exchanges used by consumers in the United States. Binance's settlement with the U.S. In November 2023, Binance agreed to pay a four billion U.S. dollar settlement with United States agencies — one of the biggest corporate fines in U.S. history. The U.S. Department of Justice investigated the platform for years for failure to prevent money laundering and growing crypto theft. The company's founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to the charges, agreeing to step down. Zhao would remain as the company's majority shareholder. The U.S. Treasury announced Binance will be subject to five years of monitoring and “significant compliance undertakings, including to ensure Binance’s complete exit from the United States.” Mixed signals from crypto companies The Binance settlement occurred in a month when overall crypto trading volume recorded its highest numbers for all of 2023. One of the main causes is the sudden popularity of FTT, a token released by FTX — the company founded by Sam Bankman-Fried. The developments surrounding Binance caused investors to move away from Binance's stablecoin BNB to the stablecoin from FTX. Earlier in November 2023, however, Coinbase saw its shares fall after announcing its quarterly performance figures.

Snapshot img

Cryptocurrency Market Size 2025-2029

The cryptocurrency market size is forecast to increase by USD 39.75 billion, at a CAGR of 16.7% between 2024 and 2029.

The Cryptocurrency Market is segmented by distribution channel (Sales Personnel, Insurance Agencies), type (Life, Non-life), mode (Offline, Online), end-user (Corporate, Individual), and geography (North America: US, Canada; Europe: France, Germany, UK; APAC: Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea; Rest of World). This segmentation reflects the market's diversity, driven by increasing adoption of Online modes for Individual end-users, particularly in APAC regions like India and South Korea, growing demand for Non-life cryptocurrency products through Insurance Agencies, and Corporate engagement via Sales Personnel in North America and Europe, catering to varied financial and investment needs across global markets.
The market is experiencing significant growth, driven by increasing investment in digital assets and the acceptance of cryptocurrency by retailers. This trend signifies a shift in the financial landscape, as more individuals and businesses recognize the potential benefits of decentralized currencies. However, the market's volatility poses a considerable challenge. The unpredictable value fluctuations can create uncertainty for investors and businesses alike, necessitating careful strategic planning and risk management. Companies seeking to capitalize on this market's opportunities must stay informed of the latest trends and be prepared to navigate the inherent risks. E-commerce, luxury goods, insurance, and even cryptocurrency debit cards are increasingly accepting digital currencies as payment methods.
Adopting innovative technologies, such as blockchain and smart contracts, can help mitigate risks and provide a competitive edge. Additionally, collaborations and partnerships with established financial institutions and retailers can further solidify a company's position in the market. Overall, the market presents both opportunities and challenges, requiring strategic agility and a forward-thinking approach.

What will be the Size of the Cryptocurrency Market during the forecast period?

Explore in-depth regional segment analysis with market size data - historical 2019-2023 and forecasts 2025-2029 - in the full report.
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The market continues to evolve, with dynamic interplays between decentralized storage solutions, hardware wallets, and crypto wallets shaping the landscape. Merchant adoption is on the rise, driving up market capitalization and pushing the boundaries of cryptocurrency security. Proof-of-work (POW) and hashing algorithms underpin the foundations of this decentralized economy, while cryptocurrency derivatives and decentralized finance (DeFi) offer new avenues for portfolio diversification. Open-source software fuels the innovation, with smart contracts paving the way for automated transactions. Cryptocurrency trading is a constant activity, with options contracts, futures contracts, and other instruments adding complexity. The integration of decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and yield farming further expands the market's reach.

Cryptocurrency's applications extend beyond digital assets, touching upon privacy-enhancing technologies, philanthropy, community development, and more. The integration of decentralized governance, consensus mechanisms, and decentralized identity adds layers of complexity and potential. Risk management is a critical component, with cryptocurrency education and security audits essential for investors. The emergence of privacy coins, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and decentralized applications (dApps) adds to the market's diversity. The market is a dynamic, ever-evolving ecosystem, shaped by ongoing activities and emerging patterns. Quantum computing and regulatory developments pose new challenges, while the integration of cryptocurrency payments, cold storage, and trading volume continues to drive growth.

The future of this decentralized economy is bright, with continuous innovation and adaptation shaping its trajectory.

How is this Cryptocurrency Industry segmented?

The cryptocurrency industry research report provides comprehensive data (region-wise segment analysis), with forecasts and estimates in 'USD billion' for the period 2025-2029, as well as historical data from 2019-2023 for the following segments.

Type

  Bitcoin
  Ethereum
  Others
  Ripple
  Bitcoin Cash
  Cardano


Component

  Hardware
  Software


Process

  Mining
  Transaction
  Mining
  Transaction


End-Use

  Trading
  E-commerce and Retail
  Peer-to-Peer Payment
  Remittance
  Trading
  E-commerce and Retail
  Peer-to-Peer Payment
  Remittance


Geography

  North America

    US
    Canada


  Europe

    Germany
    Italy
    Switzerland
    The Netherlands
    UK


  APAC

    China
    Japan


  South America

    Br

Out of five trading platforms used in the United Kingdom for buying Bitcoin in 2020, one was significantly more popular than the others. More than six out of 10 respondents said they used U.S. platform Coinbase for these means. Indeed, the source mentions that online exchanges based in the United Kingdom are rarely used. The United Kingdom ranks as one of the countries with the most Bitcoin trading in the world in 2020. Bitcoin transactions from the UK grew steadily during 2020, as the cryptocurrency's price gathered pace, but did were not nearly as high as in late 2017.

Price swings of the Luna token were noticeably high in 2021, recording a volatility of nearly 500 percent in May 2021. Measured in a metric called volatility, the percentage shown here reflect how much the price of Ethereum in U.S. dollars changed historically over a preceding 10-day window. Changes can be either up or down, with a higher volatility reflecting that an asset is more risky, as price movements are less easy to predict and can swing in any direction. Luna's changes can generally be attributed to two events. First, the integration of Terra - the blockchain behind the LUNA token as well as stablecoin UST (TerraUSD) - on Crypto.com in July 2021, allowing users of one of the world's largest crypto exchanges to stay informed about Terra. Second, there was the Terra network's actual release on Wormhole in August 2021. This connected Terra to the world of Decentralized Finance or DeFi, where it quickly became one of the main blockchains in terms of DeFi total value locked (TVL).

Context:

This dataset is an extra updating dataset for the G-Research Crypto Forecasting competition.

Introduction

This is a daily updated dataset, automaticlly collecting market data for G-Research crypto forecasting competition. The data is of the 1-minute resolution, collected for all competition assets and both retrieval and uploading are fully automated. see discussion topic.

The Data

For every asset in the competition, the following fields from Binance's official API endpoint for historical candlestick data are collected, saved, and processed.

1. **timestamp** - A timestamp for the minute covered by the row.
2. **Asset_ID** - An ID code for the cryptoasset.
3. **Count** - The number of trades that took place this minute.
4. **Open** - The USD price at the beginning of the minute.
5. **High** - The highest USD price during the minute.
6. **Low** - The lowest USD price during the minute.
7. **Close** - The USD price at the end of the minute.
8. **Volume** - The number of cryptoasset u units traded during the minute.
9. **VWAP** - The volume-weighted average price for the minute.
10. **Target** - 15 minute residualized returns. See the 'Prediction and Evaluation section of this notebook for details of how the target is calculated.
11. **Weight** - Weight, defined by the competition hosts [here](https://www.kaggle.com/cstein06/tutorial-to-the-g-research-crypto-competition)
12. **Asset_Name** - Human readable Asset name.

Indexing

The dataframe is indexed by timestamp and sorted from oldest to newest. The first row starts at the first timestamp available on the exchange, which is July 2017 for the longest-running pairs.

Usage Example

The following is a collection of simple starter notebooks for Kaggle's Crypto Comp showing PurgedTimeSeries in use with the collected dataset. Purged TimesSeries is explained here. There are many configuration variables below to allow you to experiment. Use either GPU or TPU. You can control which years are loaded, which neural networks are used, and whether to use feature engineering. You can experiment with different data preprocessing, model architecture, loss, optimizers, and learning rate schedules. The extra datasets contain the full history of the assets in the same format as the competition, so you can input that into your model too.

Baseline Example Notebooks:

• Neural Network Starter
• LightGBM Starter
• Catboost Starter
• XGBoost Starter
• TabNet Starter
• Reinforcement Learning (PPO) Starter

These notebooks follow the ideas presented in my "Initial Thoughts" here. Some code sections have been reused from Chris' great (great) notebook series on SIIM ISIC melanoma detection competition here

Loose-ends:

This is a work in progress and will be updated constantly throughout the competition. At the moment, there are some known issues that still needed to be addressed:

• VWAP: - At the moment VWAP calculation formula is still unclear. Currently the dataset uses an approximation calculated from the Open, High, Low, Close, Volume candlesticks. [Waiting for competition hosts input]
• Target Labeling: There exist some mismatches to the original target provided by the hosts at some time intervals. On all the others - it is the same. The labeling code can be seen here. [Waiting for competition hosts] input]
• Filtering: No filtration of 0 volume data is taken place.

Example Visualisations

Opening price with an added indicator (MA50): https://www.googleapis.com/download/storage/v1/b/kaggle-user-content/o/inbox%2F2234678%2Fb8664e6f26dc84e9a40d5a3d915c9640%2Fdownload.png?generation=1582053879538546&alt=media" alt="">

Volume and number of trades: https://www.googleapis.com/download/storage/v1/b/kaggle-user-content/o/inbox%2F2234678%2Fcd04ed586b08c1576a7b67d163ad9889%2Fdownload-1.png?generation=1582053899082078&alt=media" alt="">

License

This data is being collected automatically from the crypto exchange Binance.

Crypto 24h trading volume declined as 2023 progressed, with figures being ********* lower than in 2022. The decline follows after Binance - one of the biggest crypto exchanges in the world - received lawsuits in the United States. Observations are also that the crypto market was quiet after April, citing a lack of a "strong overarching narrative". This contrasts with 2021 and 2022 when cryptocurrency dominated the news and many people sought fortune in the digital currency. Bitcoin developments Bitcoin's trade volume slowed in the second quarter of 2023, after hitting a noticeable growth at the beginning of the year. The coin outperformed most of the market. Some attribute this to the announcement in June 2023 that BlackRock filed for a Bitcoin ETF. This iShares Bitcoin Trust was to use Coinbase Custody as its custodian. Regulators in the United States had not yet approved any applications for spot ETFs on Bitcoin. Changes in Ethereum staking in 2023 Ethereum's trade volume changed in 2023 due to the rollout of the Shapella (Shanghai and Cappella) upgrade. The update allowed investors to withdraw (unstake) Ethereum deposited into the network. Staking can be somewhat compared to depositing money at a bank, where one would submit money to be held and gains interest as time goes by. Lido has the highest staking pool (a platform that allows for staking) in Ethereum, higher than major crypto exchanges Coinbase and Kraken. As of May **, 2025, the 24h trading volume stands at *****.

The global user base of cryptocurrencies increased by nearly *** percent between 2018 and 2020, only to accelerate further in 2022. This is according to calculations from various sources, based on information from trading platforms and on-chain wallets. Increasing demographics might initially be attributed to a rise in the number of accounts and improvements in identification. In 2021, however, crypto adoption continued as companies like Tesla and Mastercard announced their interest in cryptocurrency. Consumers in Africa, Asia, and South America were most likely to be an owner of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, in 2022. How many of these users have Bitcoin? User figures for individual cryptocurrencies are unavailable. Bitcoin, for instance, was created not to be tracked by banks and governments. What comes closest is the trading volume of Bitcoin against domestic fiat currencies. The source assumed, however, that UK residents were the most likely to make Bitcoin transactions with British pounds. This assumption might not be accurate for popular fiat currencies worldwide. Moreover, coins such as Tether or Binance Coin - referred to as "stablecoins" - are often used to buy and sell Bitcoin. Those coins were not included in that particular statistic. Wallet usage declined Total crypto wallet downloads were significantly lower in 2022 than in 2021. The number of downloads of Coinbase, Blockchain.com, and MetaMask, among others, declined as the market hit a "crypto winter" over the year. The crypto market also suffered bad press when FTX - one of the largest crypto exchanges based on market share - collapsed in November 2022. Binance, on the other hand, regained some of the market share it had lost between September and October 2022, growing by *** percentage points in November. As of 2025, the highest forecast for the global user base of cryptocurrencies is projected to reach *** million.

The global crypto compliance software market is experiencing robust growth, driven by increasing regulatory scrutiny of cryptocurrency transactions and the burgeoning adoption of digital assets across various sectors. The market, estimated at $2 billion in 2025, is projected to exhibit a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 25% from 2025 to 2033, reaching an estimated market value of $10 billion by 2033. This significant expansion is fueled by several key factors. Firstly, governments worldwide are implementing stricter regulations to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and other illicit activities facilitated through cryptocurrencies. This necessitates the adoption of robust compliance solutions by businesses operating in the cryptocurrency space, including exchanges, custodians, and financial institutions. Secondly, the growing institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies is further propelling demand. As more institutional investors and corporations embrace digital assets, the need for comprehensive compliance solutions to manage associated risks becomes paramount. Finally, advancements in blockchain analytics and artificial intelligence are driving innovation within the crypto compliance software market, leading to more sophisticated and effective solutions capable of detecting and preventing fraudulent activities. The market segmentation reveals a diverse landscape. The "Enterprise" application segment currently holds the largest market share, reflecting the high compliance needs of large organizations handling significant cryptocurrency transactions. However, the "Government Agency" segment is exhibiting rapid growth, driven by government initiatives to enhance regulatory oversight of the crypto market. The availability of free trial versions is a key trend, enabling businesses to evaluate the effectiveness of different solutions before committing to paid subscriptions. Leading players in the market, such as Chainalysis, Elliptic, and SumSub, are constantly innovating to provide comprehensive solutions that meet the evolving regulatory landscape and cater to the diverse needs of various client segments. Geographic analysis indicates that North America and Europe currently dominate the market, but regions like Asia-Pacific are poised for significant growth due to the rapid expansion of cryptocurrency adoption in countries such as India and China. However, factors such as regulatory uncertainty in certain regions and the complexity of implementing compliance solutions act as restraints to market growth.

At the end of March 2025, the Ethereum cryptocurrency had been processed nearly ** million times on-chain that month. This was about ***** times that of the more commonly known rival Bitcoin, which saw a total of ** million transactions that month. Other leading cryptocurrencies also saw significantly less transaction activity. What kind of transactions were these? Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies which owe their credibility to their technology rather than a central bank. Many of the transactions in this statistic involve cryptocurrency exchanges which exchange these coins for other currencies, including traditional currencies such as U.S. dollars or euros. In selected countries, Bitcoin ATMs also dispense the local currency in exchange for Bitcoin. However, few retailers accept that or any other cryptocurrency on a large scale. Cryptocurrency as an investment Many cryptocurrency enthusiasts point to the high market capitalization of their favorite cryptocurrencies. Moreover, the currency price is an important factor. The price volatility of Bitcoin and others attracts investors, hoping to buy low and sell high.

Grayscale's Bitcoin ETF had a value that about ** percent lower than iShares Bitcoin Trust, but higher than other ETFs from across the world. This is according to a custom ranking on exchange trade funds filed in different countries. Grayscale's Bitcoin ETF first arrived in 2013, available only in OTC markets. It converted into an exchange trade fund in January 2024 when the SEC approved Bitcoin ETFs on the NYSE and the NASDAQ. BlackRock's fund did not exist yet. Bitcoin trading volume increased noticeably this month, as investors tried to sell their holdings and cash in on the built-up hype surrounding the new investment vehicles.

Bitcoin (BTC) price again reached an all-time high in 2025, as values exceeded over 107,000 USD in June 2025. That particular price hike was connected to the approval of Bitcoin ETFs in the United States, whilst previous hikes in 2021 were due to events involving Tesla and Coinbase, respectively. Tesla’s announcement in March 2021 that it had acquired 1.5 billion U.S. dollars’ worth of the digital coin, for example, as well as the IPO of the U.S.’ biggest crypto exchange fueled mass interest. The market was noticeably different by the end of 2022, however, with Bitcoin prices reaching roughly 94,315.98 as of May 4, 2025, after another crypto exchange, FTX, filed for bankruptcy. Is the world running out of Bitcoin? Unlike fiat currency like the U.S. dollar - as the Federal Reserve can simply decide to print more banknotes - Bitcoin’s supply is finite: BTC has a maximum supply embedded in its design, of which roughly 89 percent had been reached in April 2021. It is believed that Bitcoin will run out by 2040, despite more powerful mining equipment. This is because mining becomes exponentially more difficult and power-hungry every four years, a part of Bitcoin’s original design. Because of this, a Bitcoin mining transaction could equal the energy consumption of a small country in 2021. Bitcoin’s price outlook: a potential bubble? Cryptocurrencies have few metrics available that allow for forecasting, if only because it is rumored that only a few cryptocurrency holders own a large portion of available supply. These large holders - referred to as “whales” - are said to make up of two percent of anonymous ownership accounts, whilst owning roughly 92 percent of BTC. On top of this, most people who use cryptocurrency-related services worldwide are retail clients rather than institutional investors. This means outlooks on whether Bitcoin prices will fall or grow are difficult to measure, as movements from one large whale already having a significant impact on this market.

In the fiscal year 2023, the trading value of crypto assets in Japan amounted to over 16.9 trillion Japanese yen. The spot market reached a transaction value of about 11.4 trillion Japanese yen while the margin trading value amounted to 5.6 trillion yen. Crypto account holders in Japan The crypto asset market in Japan has gained popularity in recent years, as highlighted by a growing number of active accounts on crypto exchanges in Japan. By fiscal year 2022, over six million crypto accounts had been set up, of which 3.7 million were active. Men represented the majority of account holders. Broken down by age group, the largest share of account holders were in their thirties, followed by people in their forties. Eased regulations to boost number of listed coins Tight regulations regarding the launch of new cryptocurrencies have been limiting the competitiveness of Japanese trading platforms that list fewer coins than their international counterparts. In 2022, the Japan Virtual and Crypto assets Exchange Association, a self-regulatory body for the cryptocurrency industry, eased listing procedures for a part of currencies by issuing a green list of cryptocurrencies that do not require a screening process to be newly listed by trading platforms.

BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF received around 15 billion dollars' worth of investment inflow since January 2024, whereas Grayscale lost 16 billion. This is according to a day-to-day investment flow timeline involving 10 of the 11 Bitcoin ETFs that got approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in early 2024. The highest inflow towards these ETFs occurred in March, coinciding with the Bitcoin price's all-time high and a general increase in Bitcoin trading volume. Note that the figures here do not cover all Bitcoin ETFs found throughout the world. That said, the United States investment vehicles tend to be the largest and most impactful ones. In April 2024, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) approved three ETFs, but their potential impact is not yet clear - if only because mainland China does not allow for crypto trading after the country banned crypto mining in 2021.

NFT marketplace OpenSea had a trading volume in May 2025 that was over *********** U.S. dollars higher than competitor Blur, a relatively new entry in NFT trading. This according to a ranking that compares different platforms where people can buy NFTs. These so-called "marketplaces" function rather differently from each other, though. Axie Infinity, NBA Top Shot, and Decentraland, for instance, are example of popular NFT games that either rely on collectibles or on metaverses. OpenSea and Sushiswap, on the other hand, function more like decentralized exchanges, where people can go and buy either NFT or crypto. Finally, CryptoPunks and Solanart are platform that specialize in crypto art - NFTs with unique pictures or artwork. Art was one of the most popular categories for NFTs.