River: Businesses Absorb Bitcoin Four Times Faster Than It Is Mined

Private businesses and public companies are purchasing bitcoin at a pace that far outpaces new supply, according to a recent report from bitcoin financial services firm River.

Rapid absorption by businesses and funds

River’s data shows that in 2025, businesses—including both public bitcoin treasury companies and private firms—purchased an average of 1,755 BTC per day.

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other institutional investment vehicles added another 1,430 BTC daily, while governments acquired roughly 39 BTC per day.

This brings the combined institutional and government demand to over 3,200 BTC per day, compared to the roughly 450 new BTC miners produce daily after the most recent block subsidy halving.

Exchange reserves at multi-year lows

As institutions and funds hold on to their bitcoin, the total amount of BTC available on exchanges continues to shrink.

Recent data shows that exchange reserves are now at multi-year low, sadding to concerns of a looming supply shock should current accumulation trends persist.

Strategy leads corporate accumulation

Public companies now hold about 1.3 million BTC, with Michael Saylor’s Strategy leading the pack at 632,457 BTC, according to River.

In Q2 2025 alone, bitcoin treasury companies acquired 159,107 BTC.

Adam Livingston, author of “The Bitcoin Age and The Great Harvest,” has previously argued that MicroStrategy’s rapid acquisition is effectively “synthetically halving” bitcoin’s supply.

Despite this aggressive buying, MicroStrategy’s corporate treasury officer, Shirish Jajodia, emphasized that their activity does not impact short-term prices:

“Bitcoin’s trading volume is over $50 billion in any 24 hours — that’s huge volume. So, if you are buying $1 billion over a couple of days, it’s not actually moving the market that much.”

Potential for supply shock

With businesses, ETFs, and governments absorbing far more bitcoin than miners produce, analysts continue to warn of a potential supply shock—a scenario that could serve as a bullish catalyst for bitcoin’s price if exchange reserves remain depleted.