Those Giants Flocked to Binance: It Increased by 50% Compared to Last Year.
Binance's over-the-counter (OTC) trading volume recorded in the first two months of 2026 reveals a rapid increase in institutional investors' interest in cryptocurrencies.
Binance, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, shared new data highlighting institutional investors' approach to the market. According to recent reports published on the Binance Blog, despite it being only the beginning of 2026, OTC volume has reached approximately 25% of the total volume for 2025 (twice the amount for the same period). This indicates that large-scale investors have significantly accelerated their strategic moves towards digital assets in the first quarter of the year.
Data covering January and February points to a massive increase in demand, particularly for Bitcoin (BTC). Bitcoin, which accounted for only 4.91% of OTC transactions in January, saw this figure rise to 45.81% in February. This sharp increase demonstrates how critical the weighting of the leading cryptocurrency in institutional portfolios has become in a very short period.
The data isn't limited to Bitcoin; a similar momentum is seen in the shift from stablecoins and fiat currencies to crypto assets. These inflows, which were 21.43% in January, rose to 48.95% in February. This data shows that institutional cash positions are rapidly being converted into cryptocurrencies, and fresh capital inflows into the market continue.
These statistics shared by Binance highlight that institutional cryptocurrency allocation is becoming not just a trend, but a permanent strategy. The volume increase in February, in particular, clearly reflects how liquidity in the market is dominated by large players and how confidence in the cryptocurrency ecosystem is strengthening at the institutional level.
