#bitcoin #etf
šØ Bitcoin Active Addresses have been falling for almost 2 years now ā since the launch of spot $BTC -ETFs in January 2024.
What BTC maximalists fought for for years (ālet Wall Street come!ā) happenedā¦ and killed on-chain activity.
Retail entered ETFs on the FOMO wave at the start, quickly recorded profits and left.
Institutions that hold BTC āon paperā through BlackRock and Fidelity remain.
The keys are with the banks. The ideology of āNot your keys, not your coinsā is officially buried for the sake of convenience and fees.
But there is another side:
ā¢ Fed ended QT on December 1, 2025 ā $3 trillion removed from balance sheet since 2022
ā¢ Rate still 4.00%, decrease ahead
ā¢ BlackRock IBIT ā the companyās most profitable ETF by fee revenue in less than 2 years
And most importantly ā projects are emerging that return $BTC to DeFi without wrappers and bridges.
RioSwap on Mintlayer is already in testnet:
the first truly decentralized DEX, where native BTC moves directly, HTLC, full control with the user.
Perhaps a new phase is beginning right now:
institutions hold āpaperā Bitcoin, and real liquidity and usage return to the blockchain itself.
2026 will be interesting.
