Amid increasing volatility in the cryptocurrency market in the first quarter of 2025, Binance continues to hold the title of the largest crypto exchange by trading volume. Since the beginning of the year, the platform’s total trading volume has reached an impressive $1.9 trillion, accounting for 43.6% of all global crypto exchange trades. This is nearly 3.6 times higher than the nearest competitor, confirming Binance’s dominant position in the industry despite overall market turbulence.
Overall Trend – Declining Trading Volumes
Despite Binance’s leadership, trading volumes across the crypto market have been steadily decreasing since the start of the year. This trend is driven by growing investor caution: market participants fear further declines, especially in the altcoin segment, which has seen significant drops and remains at risk of further downturns.
Altcoins, which were showing bullish sentiment at the end of 2024, came under serious pressure in Q1 2025. Many traders chose to take profits or exit the market altogether, waiting for a more stable phase before making new investments.
Institutional Players Remain Active: Over 91,000 BTC on Balance Sheets
Amid the market slump, public companies continue to increase their crypto holdings. In the first quarter of 2025, they added 91,781 BTC to their balance sheets. Among the active buyers are major players like Tether, Blockchain Company, Semler Scientific, Metaplanet, and Microstrategy.
However, despite such large purchases, Bitcoin’s price fell from $94,400 to $82,500 during the quarter. A logical question arises: how did the price drop by 12% with such active institutional accumulation?
The Reason – Massive Sell-offs by Long-term Holders and ETFs
The answer lies in the behavior of long-term BTC holders, who sold off 178,000 BTC during Q1. As a result, institutional purchases managed to cover only about half of that amount.
In the second half of March, “hodler” sell pressure noticeably decreased, but additional downward pressure came from Bitcoin ETF holders. Over the same period, $4.8 billion was withdrawn from funds, which also negatively impacted the price.
New Ambitious Players: GameStop and Marathon Digital
Institutional activity doesn’t stop there. Two companies have already announced plans to make major entries into Bitcoin:
– Marathon Digital plans to issue $2 billion worth of stock and use the proceeds to purchase BTC.
– GameStop, which made a high-profile comeback in 2024, is issuing $1.3 billion in convertible bonds with the same goal — investing in Bitcoin.
Buffett Awaits the Perfect Moment
Interestingly, traditional investors are not standing aside. Legendary investor Warren Buffett, previously skeptical about cryptocurrencies, is preparing for major purchases… but not of Bitcoin. His company Berkshire Hathaway has accumulated $350 billion in cash to buy up stocks of leading companies during a market downturn.
Buffett’s goal is to take advantage of a drop below the 200-week moving average (200 WMA) and ensure record returns over the next decade. While this isn’t directly related to crypto, the behavior of such players shapes the macro investment landscape and fuels expectations of future market movements.
The start of 2025 presents a mixed picture in the crypto market: on one hand, there’s a decline in trading volumes and heightened investor caution, while on the other, institutional players and major public companies are actively buying BTC during the dip.
Binance still holds the top position, but market participants will closely watch the next moves of GameStop, Marathon Digital, and other major players. A potential slowdown in long-term holder sell-offs and stabilization of Bitcoin ETF flows could become catalysts for a new upward trend in the second quarter.
