Bitcoin outpaces NVIDIA by 41% in trading volume during the first week of 2026

After ending its fourth negative year since 2010, still the least painful with a 5.6% decline, Bitcoin (BTC) recovered to trade above $90,000 in the first week of January. Daily spot trading volumes stood between $40 billion and $53 billion during this week, typical of a market moving sideways early in the year. However, even with this moderate level of trading activity, Bitcoin still outperformed one of the most actively traded and closely watched tech stocks, NVIDIA (NVDA).

According to analysis by the Techgaged research team, Bitcoin’s average daily trading volume in the first week of 2026 was about $37.8 billion, while Nvidia’s averaged $26.8 billion. That means the cryptocurrency outpaced the AI giant by roughly 41% over the past seven days.

Bitcoin Average Daily Trading Volume Beats NVIDIA`s by Roughly $11 Billion

Ever since the AI boom began, Nvidia (NVDA) has regularly ranked among the most actively traded U.S. stocks, with tens of billions of dollars changing hands in a busy session, putting it in the same liquidity category as Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT). 

Yet, when it comes to average daily trading volume, Nvidia still trails Bitcoin by a wide margin, once the digital outsider born from a 2008 whitepaper. 

Up until a few years ago, many still dismissed Bitcoin as a speculative gamble. However, BTC has grown steadily into one of the most heavily traded assets in the world, even beating tech giants like Nvidia. While two seem almost incomparable at first glance, a closer look at their investor activity still offers a striking insight into Bitcoin’s growing dominance.

The Techgaged research team analyzed whether more money changed hands in Bitcoin or in NVIDIA stock during the first week of 2026, and by how much per day. NVIDIA’s figure was calculated by multiplying its 7-day average share turnover on active trading days, at roughly 142.8 million shares per day, by the period’s average price of approximately $187.9.

Bitcoin’s total came from aggregated data across major exchanges, showing about $265 billion in trading volume in the first week of the year, translating into a daily average of $37.8 billion.

While the exact totals are estimates, Bitcoin still surpassed the AI giant by a whopping 41% in daily liquidity. The difference becomes even more striking when expressed in dollar terms: over the past week, Bitcoin recorded roughly $11 billion in average daily trading volume, compared with one of the most actively traded stocks. 

Bitcoin’s Trading Volume Up 2% YoY in the First Week of the Year, NVIDIA’s Down 12%

The Techgaged comparison also revealed another interesting insight. Despite ending one of only four negative years since 2010, which would normally point to weaker interest and lower trading activity, Bitcoin`s trading volume still increased in the first days of 2026.

In the first week of 2025, BTC averaged just over $37 billion in daily trading volume, or 2% lower than in the same period this year. In other words, traders stayed engaged even after a rare losing year.

On the other hand, Nvidia`s 7-day average trading volume dropped by 12% in the same period, falling from $30.8 billion to $26.8 billion.