Bitcoin Soaks Up $732B as Tokenized RWAs Hit $24B in 2025

Bitcoin’s market structure shifts as institutional flows surge

Glassnode’s latest analysis, co-published with Fasanara Capital, paints a picture of a maturing Bitcoin market in 2025: heavier institutional participation, a dramatic expansion of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), and materially lower volatility as roughly $732 billion of new capital has been absorbed this cycle.

Capital inflows and reduced volatility

According to Glassnode, Bitcoin has drawn about $732B of fresh capital in the current cycle. At the same time, one-year realized volatility has fallen by nearly half, signaling calmer price action compared with earlier cycles. The report also highlights that Bitcoin and stablecoins still dominate value transfer on public ledgers — with on-chain settlement volumes remaining substantial even as more flows move through exchange-traded funds and brokerage rails.

How ETFs and market infrastructure changed the flow

The adoption of regulated investment vehicles — primarily spot Bitcoin ETFs — has funneled large flows through traditional market infrastructure. That transition has encouraged greater participation from institutional market-makers and arbitrage desks, improving liquidity depth, narrowing bid-ask spreads, and reducing price dislocations during sell-offs. In short, ETF rails helped channel volatile retail and whale flows into more predictable settlement paths, tightening spreads and dampening extreme spot swings.

Tokenized RWAs scale up: $7B to $24B in one year

One of the most notable developments Glassnode flags is the rapid growth of tokenized real-world assets. Tokenized RWAs expanded from roughly $7 billion to $24 billion within 12 months, driven by pension funds, hedge funds and corporations seeking on-chain exposure without taking concentrated directional crypto bets.

Why tokenized funds matter for institutions

Tokenized funds and other on-chain representations of traditional securities provide institutions with faster settlement, programmable custody, and simplified access to previously illiquid or fragmented instruments. As custody solutions, compliance tooling and settlement infrastructure improve, tokenized RWAs become an increasingly attractive allocation for asset managers looking to diversify portfolios and leverage blockchain efficiencies.

On-chain activity and settlement rails

Glassnode notes Bitcoin settled approximately $6.9 trillion over the past 90 days — a throughput comparable to major payment processors. This underscores Bitcoin’s continuing role as a value-transfer layer even as the ecosystem adopts a dual-rail structure: one rail for traditional financial flows via ETFs and brokerages, and another for native on-chain activity supported by stablecoins and decentralized venues.

Stablecoins and the dual-rail economy

Stablecoins remain the primary bridge between traditional finance and crypto markets, facilitating settlements across centralized exchanges and decentralized finance (DeFi). The coexistence of ETF-led inflows and stablecoin-based on-chain settlement has become a durable feature of market microstructure, supporting liquidity across venues and reducing settlement friction.

Implications for traders, asset managers and protocol builders

The combined effect of deeper liquidity, active market-making and widespread institutional adoption is a structurally more resilient Bitcoin market. Analysts cited in the report expect continued institutional uptake as tokenized funds scale and regulated solutions mature. For traders, this environment tends to produce tighter spreads and fewer abrupt spot price swings. For asset managers and custody providers, the accelerating RWA adoption creates demand for robust compliance, custody, and settlement tooling.

Glassnode’s findings suggest the current cycle is less about speculative froth and more about structural reallocation: a redistribution of capital toward regulated rails and tokenized exposures. That evolution could mark a turning point where crypto markets increasingly resemble traditional markets in liquidity, while preserving blockchain-native settlement efficiencies.

Takeaway

Bitcoin’s market in 2025 shows signs of institutional maturation: $732B of new capital, half the realized volatility, and a surge in tokenized RWAs to $24B. Together, these trends point to deeper liquidity, improved market-making, and a more stable structural foundation for digital assets going forward.