The suits have officially taken over. Institutional trading now accounts for a record share of cryptocurrency market activity, with Coinbase reporting that professional and institutional clients drove 81.08% of total trading volume in Q4 2025, reaching $237 billion in the quarter alone.
To put that in perspective, institutional activity on Coinbase sat at roughly 20% back in Q1 2018. What was once a playground for retail speculators has become a structured marketplace where Wall Street desks execute block trades during business hours.
The numbers behind the takeover
The shift isn’t limited to a single exchange. CME Group recorded crypto trading volumes exceeding 340,000 contracts in Q3 2025. Some periods saw more than 200% year-over-year increases in crypto futures and options activity.
Morgan Stanley has been expanding its crypto trading capabilities through E*Trade, offering competitive fees designed to attract investors who previously kept digital assets at arm’s length.
