The total assets of local crypto traders have noticeably increased.
The global trend of indifference to the new and disregard for others has been confirmed by the United Kingdom, where the number of crypto investors has suddenly decreased.
The share of cryptocurrency owners among the residents of the UK has dropped to 8%, reported the authors of a study conducted by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with the participation of the YouGov platform. The 2025 study involved 2,352 respondents.
In 2024, approximately 12% of the adult population of the country owned cryptocurrencies. In 2023, it was 10%, and in 2022, it was 4.1%. The regulator explained the changes by stating that after the sharp collapse of the cryptocurrency market due to the failure of the FTX exchange, many retail investors became more cautious about cryptocurrencies. Investor trust in crypto assets may also have declined due to high market volatility and geopolitical tensions.
Despite the decrease in the number of Britons owning cryptocurrencies, the total assets of local crypto traders have noticeably increased. One in five cryptocurrency owners in the UK has a portfolio worth between £1,001 and £5,000. At the same time, the share of those whose crypto assets do not exceed £100 has sharply decreased.
Meanwhile, the level of public awareness about the crypto market remains consistently high at 91%, the same as last year. Awareness of stablecoins is also growing, increasing from 53% in 2024 to 58% in 2025. Most often, crypto holders prefer to purchase assets through centralized exchanges such as Coinbase, Binance, or Kraken.
Last week, the FCA announced that it may allow British companies to experiment with payments in stablecoins next year and plans to finalize the development of regulations for digital assets.
The four-year behavioral pattern of Bitcoin has typically been associated with halving — an event that occurs every four years and reduces the rate of issuance. In the early stages, analysts explained the price increase around halving by the classic supply and demand relationship. Over time, part of the Bitcoin community turned this explanation into a stable "consensus," from which the idea of a four-year cycle emerged.
A group of traders — perhaps unconsciously — began to act in sync, aligning their buying and selling with the expected rhythm of halving. This informal coordination can be described as "cartel-like" behavior. It drew in external market participants, resulting in a dominant culture among traders that supports the notion of Bitcoin's four-year cycle.
With the solidification of the cycle idea, some market participants attempted to anticipate it by positioning themselves in advance for maximum profit. However, in 2025, this strategy failed: trader behavior turned out to be heterogeneous — some sold aggressively, while others did not support the movement and did not follow the expected scenario. As a result, the previous coordination disappeared, and a different dynamic began to form for Bitcoin.
It is also important to consider that the four-year cycle of Bitcoin worked significantly more effectively before the large-scale arrival of institutional investors — primarily through ETFs and other related financial products.
