In a striking shift within the cryptocurrency exchange landscape, the Singapore‑based platform Bitget has reported a dramatic rise in institutional investor activity. According to a collaborative study by Bitget and on‑chain analytics firm Nansen, institutional traders now account for approximately 80% of the total trading volume on the platform as of September.
Rapid Growth in Institutional Participation
The study shows that at the beginning of the year (January 1), institutional entities contributed just 39.4% of spot‑market volume on Bitget. That figure surged to 72.6% by July 30. Meanwhile, activity in the derivatives market demonstrates an even more dramatic ascent: institutional market‑makers went from representing about 3% of derivative volume early in the year to around 56.6% by end of July.
Such numbers underline how deeply institutional players are entrenched in the platform’s liquidity and trading flows.
Why This Matters: Liquidity, Depth, and Ecosystem Positioning
Liquidity is a key yardstick for measuring a platform’s strength and its appeal to larger players. In traditional finance, liquidity reflects how easily and quickly an asset can be bought or sold without significantly affecting its price. The report notes that Bitget’s order‑book depth, bid/ask spreads and execution quality now “approach” those of major counterparts like Binance and OKX when it comes to top trading pairs.
In other words, Bitget is not just benefitting from institutional volume, it is also elevating its infrastructure and market‑making environment to compete with top‑tier exchanges. This is significant because institutional participation generally signals a higher degree of market maturity, lower relative volatility (in principle) and broader acceptance of crypto as an asset class.
Key Institutional Players and Volume Anchors
According to Nansen’s on‑chain data, two notable firms — Laser Digital and Fenbushi Capital — are among the leading sources of net positive inflows into Bitget’s ecosystem. Furthermore, Bitget reports that during the first half of 2025, the exchange averaged about US $750 billion per month in trading volume, roughly 90% of which came from derivatives. Institutional traders are now responsible for about half of that derivative‑volume.
These metrics suggest that Bitget is not merely a niche platform but a serious venue for large‑scale, sophisticated crypto trading.
Industry Implications and Strategic Responses
The rise of institutional engagement on Bitget reflects broader trends in the crypto industry. As more large investors — hedge funds, proprietary trading firms, asset managers — enter the space, exchanges are rapidly adapting:
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Platforms are launching institution‑specific offerings, such as dedicated trading desks, enhanced leverage tools, prime broker services, and bespoke custody solutions. For example, in early 2025 Crypto.com revealed a dedicated institutional trading platform with more than 300 trading pairs.
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Meanwhile, Binance rolled out “crypto‑as‑a‑service” for banks and licensed brokers, allowing them direct access to liquidity, futures, and custody.
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In October, OKX announced a partnership with Standard Chartered to provide collateral‑reflected asset programs in the European Economic Area (EEA), enabling institutional clients to store crypto assets directly through bank‑grade custodians.
These moves underscore that crypto exchanges are no longer just oriented towards retail traders, but are actively courting and serving institutional ecosystems.
What This Means for Retail Traders and the Ecosystem
For retail participants and smaller traders, the institutional dominance of volume on a given exchange carries several implications:
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Potential for improved liquidity and tighter spreads in major trading pairs, which can benefit all participants.
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Greater resilience: As institutional flows stabilize, the risk of illiquid moves or extreme slippage may be reduced.
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Increased sophistication in market‑making: Exchanges will invest more in infrastructure, compliance, custody, and regulation to maintain institutional credentials — which indirectly raises standards for all users.
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On the flip side, when institutions dominate volume, retail influence on short‑term price swings may diminish, as large players can drive more of the volume and structure the order‑book dynamics.
Final Thoughts
The report from Bitget and Nansen marks a clear inflection point in how we view crypto exchange dynamics: institutional traders are no longer just passive participants but are now central actors, especially on platforms like Bitget. With ~80% of volume coming from these entities, the marketplace is increasingly shifting from being retail‑driven to institutionally anchored.
For investors, analysts, and exchange watchers, this is a signal to pay attention to which platforms are hosting meaningful institutional flows, how order‑book quality is evolving, and what products are being tailored for large players.
Disclaimer: The above is a summary of publicly‑available information and should not be taken as investment advice. Always conduct your own due diligence.
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