Although bitcoin’s price performance has been unstable recently, new data suggests there is positive momentum when it comes to adoption.
Crypto analytics firm Santiment has identified network indicators showing that bitcoin adoption continues to grow even as the broader market experiences weaker conditions.
According to the firm’s research, both adoption and the use of cold storage are increasing. More investors are transferring their bitcoin holdings to offline storage solutions, a behavior that is typically associated with long term investors who plan to hold their assets rather than trade them frequently.
Bitcoin Adoption Continues to Grow
Data shared by Santiment shows that the number of non empty wallets on the Bitcoin network has reached a new all time high of 58.45 million.
Over the past six months, this figure has grown by about 1.69 million wallets, representing an increase of roughly 3 percent. The growth suggests that more investors have continued to buy and hold bitcoin in recent months, even as prices declined and many market participants expected the beginning of a bear market.
At the same time, the amount of bitcoin held on exchange wallets has fallen sharply. The balance on known exchange addresses has dropped to its lowest level since December 2017, with exchanges currently holding around 1.17 million BTC.
The rise in adoption along with the shift toward offline storage indicates that many investors are following a strategy of buying during price declines. Both retail and institutional investors appear to be accumulating bitcoin, although the pace has not been particularly aggressive. Current data also suggests that institutional investors are accumulating at a higher rate than retail participants.
Earlier this month, CryptoPotato reported that spot bitcoin exchange traded funds in the United States recorded their first significant wave of accumulation since mid October 2025. During that period, inflows into these funds reached about 1.45 billion dollars on February 25.
Meanwhile, retail investor participation has weakened. Analyst data showed that retail inflows declined by roughly 5 billion dollars during the thirty day period between February 6 and March 2.
Genuine Accumulation Supports Spot Demand
Spot market demand for bitcoin has also been rising even as geopolitical tensions create uncertainty in financial markets.
Despite the ongoing conflict related concerns, investors who are not relying on leverage, along with institutional buyers, continue to purchase bitcoin. Some of this demand is linked to investors in the United States, which is reflected in the Coinbase Premium indicator turning positive after remaining negative for an extended period.
Data from derivatives markets also suggests that the current demand is not being driven by speculative leveraged trading. Instead, it appears to be supported by genuine accumulation of the asset.
This increase in spot demand recently helped bitcoin move back above the 70,000 dollar level for the first time in about three weeks. At the time of writing, bitcoin was trading near 70,560 dollars, representing a slight decline over the past 24 hours. #cryptonews https://t.me/coinsignalpublic https://coinsignals.net
