Bitcoin News Today: Institutional Shift Fuels Bitget's Rise as Crypto's Second Giant

Institutional traders now account for 80% of Bitget's trading volume, according to a Cointelegraph report. This surge in institutional activity has positioned Bitget as the second-largest crypto exchange globally, with $23.1 billion in trading volume in 2025, according to CoinEdition. The shift reflects a broader industry trend as exchanges like Binance, OKX, and Crypto.com compete to attract professional and institutional clients.

Bitget's institutional spot trading volume grew from 39.4% in January to 72.6% by July 2025, while futures market participation by institutional players jumped from 3% to 56.6% over the same period, CoinEdition reported. These gains have improved liquidity metrics, with tighter bid-ask spreads and deeper order books on major pairs like BTC/USDT and ETH/USDT, rivaling peers such as Binance and OKX, according to a BeInCrypto analysis. Nansen's analysis highlighted Bitget's Amihud Illiquidity Ratio of 0.0014 and a Roll Spread Estimate of 9.02 basis points, metrics that align with industry benchmarks, CoinEdition noted.

The exchange has expanded its services to cater to institutional clients, including USDT-backed lending programs offering up to $10 million in loans with flexible repayment terms, CoinEdition added. Custody partnerships with Fireblocks, Copper, and OSL further underscore Bitget's focus on institutional-grade infrastructure, CoinEdition said. Laser Digital and Fenbushi Capital emerged as top contributors to institutional inflows, with Laser Digital depositing $2.6 million and Fenbushi maintaining a 100% net efficiency ratio, CoinEdition reported.

Bitget's growth is part of a larger market transformation. Centralized exchanges now see institutions driving nearly 80% of total volume, the Cointelegraph report found. The U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF landscape, led by BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust with $88 billion in assets, has also amplified institutional interest, CoinEdition observed. Regulatory developments, including the U.S. repeal of SAB 121 and Europe's MiCA framework, are bolstering institutional confidence, CoinEdition added. Analysts predict institutional Bitcoin holdings could reach 4.2 million BTC by 2026, or roughly one-fifth of the total supply, CoinEdition projected.

Bitget's CEO, Gracy Chen, emphasized liquidity as "the heartbeat of any market", a comment reported by BeInCrypto. The exchange's Universal Exchange (UEX) model aims to bridge centralized and decentralized finance, offering deep liquidity, institutional tools, and tokenized assets in one platform, CoinEdition said. In the first half of 2025, Bitget averaged $750 billion in monthly trading volume, with derivatives accounting for 90% of activity, CoinEdition added.

The institutional shift has intensified competition among exchanges. Binance, the largest CEX, reported a 61% monthly increase in spot trading volume to $698.3 billion in July, the Cointelegraph report noted. Meanwhile, OKX's MiCA license and partnerships, such as its collaboration with Standard Chartered for institutional custody, highlight Europe's growing institutional crypto appetite, according to Yahoo Finance.