Bitcoin was initially conceived as a tool for decentralized payments; over the years, it has evolved into a large-scale ecosystem with a robust financial infrastructure and many use cases.
Today, Bitcoin is held on the balance sheets of public companies and in the reserves of individual states. As of July 2025, the total number of its owners worldwide exceeds 300 million.
Evolution of the Bitcoin ecosystem
At the start, Bitcoin was purely a peer-to-peer network for transferring digital money. Today, it is one of the largest ecosystems in the decentralized finance segment.
According to DeFi Llama data as of July 2025, the Bitcoin ecosystem ranks among the top 4 DeFi platforms by total value locked. The cumulative TVL* amounts to $6.93 billion—only slightly less than BNB Smart Chain ($7.14 billion).
* TVL (Total Value Locked) is the total value of digital assets locked in the smart contracts of DeFi protocols. This metric assesses the scale, liquidity, and level of user engagement in an ecosystem.
The expansion of the “Bitcoin world” led to the formation of a separate area — Bitcoin Finance (BTCFi). This is a set of DeFi applications built around the Bitcoin protocol and using BTC as the core asset.
The integration of Bitcoin into DeFi became possible thanks to the development of second-layer solutions, sidechains, and restaking protocols. These technologies not only increased network scalability but also added new features, including support for smart contracts.
What is available to BTCFi users
The modern Bitcoin ecosystem allows BTC holders to perform a wide range of on-chain operations, including:
- Lending through lending platforms;
- Classic and liquid staking*;
- Restaking*;
- Trading on decentralized exchanges (DEX);
- Yield farming (farming)*.
* Staking is a mechanism for earning income by locking crypto assets in a protocol or smart contract to support the operation of a network or DeFi service. Rewards are paid in the form of interest or protocol tokens.
* Liquid staking is staking in which the user does not fully “freeze” the asset. In exchange for the locked coins, the user receives a special token that reflects their value and can use it in other DeFi services (trade, lend, farm), while continuing to earn staking rewards.
* Restaking is a model of reusing already staked assets to secure or operate additional protocols. It allows users to earn extra income on top of base staking by participating in multiple layers of infrastructure.
* Yield farming (farming) is a way of earning in DeFi in which a user places their crypto assets into special pools or services and receives income for providing liquidity. Rewards can be paid in the form of interest, a share of fees, or platform tokens.
Key DeFi protocols of the Bitcoin ecosystem
The leader of the BTCFi segment is Babylon Protocol, a restaking protocol with a TVL of $5.12 billion as of July 2025. It accounts for about 74% of the total value locked in the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Other significant projects:
- Lombard Finance ($1.63 billion TVL) — a liquid staking protocol built on top of Babylon Protocol, expanding passive income opportunities for BTC holders;
- Threshold Network ($662 million TVL) — a decentralized solution for using Bitcoin in other blockchain ecosystems via wrapped tokens;
- Solv Protocol ($543 million TVL) — a DeFi platform that combines Bitcoin and decentralized finance;
- Lightning Network ($440 million TVL) — a second-layer network for instant and near-free BTC payments;
- Bedrock ($204 million TVL) — the first Bitcoin liquid staking protocol in a multichain environment;
- Allyer Farm ($120 million TVL) — a Bitcoin-based farming platform;
- Liquid Network and Rootstock — sidechains that implement smart contracts and asset tokenization, including stablecoins;
- Stacks — an L2 solution for scaling Bitcoin that synchronizes with the leading network via the Proof-of-Transfer (PoX) mechanism.
Largest Bitcoin holders
According to Fidelity Digital Assets, by mid-2025, at least 50 public companies collectively owned more than 900,000 BTC (about $106 billion), which corresponds to 4.5% of Bitcoin’s total supply (19.89 million BTC).
The absolute corporate leader remains Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), with nearly 600,000 BTC on its balance sheet, worth about $71 billion.
Other large corporate holders:
- Robinhood Markets — 136,755 BTC;
- Marathon Digital Holdings — about 44,400 BTC;
- Riot Platforms — approximately 17,400 BTC;
- Tesla — 11,509 BTC;
- Block — more than 9,000 BTC;
- GameStop — 4,710 BTC.
Bitcoin in government reserves
As of January 2025, governments across various countries collectively held approximately 471,000 BTC (over $55 billion), or about 2.5% of the total supply.
The largest state holders of Bitcoin:
- USA — 212,000 BTC;
- China — 194,000 BTC;
- United Kingdom — 61,000 BTC.
Private investors and Bitcoin distribution
Despite the presence of corporations and governments among the largest Bitcoin holders, the majority of Bitcoins still belong to private investors. According to River data as of July 2025, individual investors control about 14 million BTC worth roughly $1.65 trillion—around 70% of the total supply.
How many bitcoins actually exist
By July 2025, 19.89 million bitcoins had been mined, which is almost 95% of the maximum limit. Taking into account the estimated 15–20% loss of coins, the adequate circulating supply is between 15.9 and 16.9 million BTC.
About 74% of all existing bitcoins (approximately 15.3 million BTC) are held by long-term holders*. Thus, only between 600,000 and 1.6 million BTC remain in free circulation, highlighting the scarcity of the first cryptocurrency.
* Long-term holders are Bitcoin owners who keep BTC without moving or selling it for an extended period of time (typically more than 155 days), viewing the asset as a store of value and betting on its long-term growth.