The past year has been an exceptional period for crypto assets. Not only has Bitcoin performed extremely well - rising more than 50%1 - but other assets such as Ethereum and XRP have delivered significant gains too.
In this article, we’ll explore some of the key drivers behind the recent strength in crypto prices. We’ll also highlight some crypto stocks that are benefiting from the bull market in digital assets.
Demand for Bitcoin Continues to Rise
Whereas in the past demand for Bitcoin was predominantly driven by retail investors, it’s a different story today. These days, demand is coming from both retail and institutional investors, who combined, are driving prices sharply higher.
On the retail side, user-friendly exchanges and apps are making it very easy for new investors to jump into the market. No longer do investors have to deal with opaque, foreign digital asset platforms - today crypto-assets are available on a wide range of well-known, trusted platforms such as Coinbase, Robinhood, PayPal, and WeBull meaning that any investor with a smartphone can easily gain exposure to the market.
Retail interest in crypto has also been boosted by the launch of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) such as the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF and the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust and other listed products such as the BitMine Immersion Technologies. These products have made it easier than ever to gain exposure to the asset class as they can be accessed through a standard brokerage account, just like a mutual fund or stock.
Additionally, new crypto-friendly regulation continues to be a key driver of retail interest. In the UK, for example, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently lifted its ban on the sale of certain crypto-backed exchange-traded products (ETPs) to retail investors in the UK meaning that thousands of investors can now trade the asset class for the first time.
It’s worth noting that young investors - particularly Millennials and Gen Z - are actively incorporating crypto into their portfolios today, fundamentally altering traditional wealth management models that once focused almost exclusively on stocks and bonds. Driven by skepticism of legacy financial institutions, these generations view crypto not as a speculative asset, but as a core pillar of a modern, diversified portfolio.
For these investors, the decentralized nature of crypto and its role in the financial ecosystem as a form of "digital gold" are major selling points. The allure of asymmetric return potential - where the upside can vastly outweigh the initial investment risk - is also very appealing.
The "Great Accumulation" from Institutional Investors
While retail investors have continued to show strong demand for crypto, institutional demand has arguably been the most significant market driver over the past year. Here, demand has come from a wide range of firms including wealth managers, family offices, asset managers, hedge funds, and corporate treasury companies.
There are a number of reasons that institutions are gravitating towards crypto today. For many, it’s a diversification tool. For example, wealth managers and family offices are increasingly incorporating crypto in their alternatives allocation. These firms see the asset class as a way to hedge against currency devaluation and macroeconomic instability and create more balanced investor portfolios.
For wealth managers, the approval of Bitcoin ETFs in major markets like the US has no doubt been a game-changer. These products have essentially bridged the gap between traditional finance and digital finance, providing regulated, easily accessible exposure to Bitcoin.
For family offices, younger generations’ interest in FinTech and decentralized assets is clearly a major driver of digital asset adoption. It’s worth noting that according to the Goldman Sachs 2025 Family Office Investment Insights Report, around 33% of family offices are currently invested in crypto assets2.
Turning to asset managers, a significant number of institutions are now active in the spot Bitcoin ETF space, and these firms are buying Bitcoin to back the ETF shares they are issuing. For example, the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF - the largest Bitcoin ETF globally - now holds around 800,000 BTC3.
As for more active institutions such as hedge funds, investments in crypto often constitute a strategic bet on the market's direction. These firms are looking to exploit rapid price movements in the financial markets and Bitcoin’s volatility is inherently appealing.
Finally, there are the corporates, who are buying up Bitcoin in an effort to make crypto a central, strategic asset on their balance sheets. For some of these companies, the aim is to diversify away from cash and fixed income securities into an asset with fixed supply. For others, the goal is to provide a mechanism for investors to bet aggressively on the price of Bitcoin. Note that today, there are over 70 publicly traded companies that hold Bitcoin on their balance sheets4.
The Stocks Benefiting from the Crypto Boom
While the most obvious way to gain exposure to the crypto boom is through the digital assets themselves, there are a range of publicly listed stocks that offer indirect exposure to the asset class. And many of these stocks are performing very well at the moment, given the bull market in digital assets.
Trading platforms is one area of the market that is thriving at present. Here, stocks like Coinbase, Robinhood Markets, and Futu Holdings are benefiting from the increased interest in crypto from retail investors. One advantage these companies have over others in the crypto ecosystem is that they can benefit from both rising and falling prices as their revenues are typically linked to transaction volumes. This contrasts with a typical crypto miner, which is only likely to benefit from rising prices. Zooming in on Robinhood - which is currently the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 index this year5 - it generated crypto revenue of $160 million in the second quarter of 2025, up 98% year on year6.
Crypto infrastructure players are also enjoying success at the moment. Companies here include the likes of Circle Internet and Galaxy Digital. Back in August, Circle - which is the issuer of the world's second-largest USD stablecoin by market cap - posted 53% revenue growth for the second quarter of 2025. More recently, Galaxy Digital, which provides institutional-grade services for the crypto world, posted 223% growth in revenue for the third quarter of 20257.
With crypto prices trending up, miners such as MARA Holdings and Riot Platforms are naturally doing well. For these companies, higher Bitcoin prices are translating to higher revenues. It’s worth noting that in recent years, miners have addressed energy consumption issues by turning to clean energy and stranded/wasted energy. While some miners are powering their operations with clean energy sources such as hydroelectric, solar, wind, and nuclear power, others are using energy that would otherwise be wasted or released into the atmosphere such as flared natural gas.
As for the crypto treasury companies, performance here has been mixed in 2025. Michael Saylor’s company Strategy (previously known as MicroStrategy) hasn’t seen much in the way of stock price gains despite the company's Bitcoin holdings rising from around 447,500 at the start of the year to roughly 640,000 today8. However, BitMine Immersion Technologies or “BMNR,” which offers a hybrid model of crypto mining and treasury management has shot up. Currently, it trades near $50 after initially raising capital in June at $8.
The Crypto Ecosystem is Booming
In conclusion, the current crypto market rally appears to be fundamentally different from previous booms. Unlike in previous bull markets, this rally is being powered by demand from a range of investors, from digitally-savvy retail investors to powerful institutional players.
This bull market is lifting a wide range of publicly listed crypto stocks, including high-volume trading platforms like Robinhood Markets and Coinbase, key infrastructure providers such as Circle Internet and Galaxy Digital, and clean-energy-focused crypto miners like MARA Holdings. With new regulation providing tailwinds and institutional capital creating market depth, the crypto ecosystem is booming.
Footnotes:
1Google Finance, as of October 22, 2025
2Goldman Sachs Releases 2025 Family Office Investment Insights Report, as of September 10, 2025
3BlackRock, iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, as of October 22, 2025
4CoinDesk, The Great Accumulation: A Corporate Race for Bitcoin, as of February 5, 2025
5Slick charts, S&P 500 Component Year to Date Returns, as of October 22, 2025
6Robinhood, Robinhood Reports Second Quarter 2025 Results, as of July 30, 2025
7Galaxy Announces Third Quarter 2025 Financial Results, as of October 21, 2025
8Strategy, Purchases, as of October 22, 2025
