- Bitcoin rose over $126,000 in October, then fell 30% because of tariffs and liquidations. Ethereum reached an all-time high of $4,955 with the Fusaka upgrade. The entire market value went over $4 trillion but ended up being quite volatile.
- GENIUS and CLARITY The SEC’s Project Crypto made it clear what assets are, and the pro-crypto U.S. government made it easier to keep an eye on things, but the Senate stopped comprehensive changes.
- Stablecoins handled $46 trillion in transactions, a 106% increase; RWAs climbed fourfold to $30 billion; institutions like JPMorgan and Vanguard used ETFs and tokenized assets.
- Hacks cost $3.4 billion, including Bybit’s $1.4 billion breach; North Korea stole $2 billion; and overleverage led to $20 billion in liquidations in the fourth quarter.
- DeFi TVL shot up, the Solana ETF started, AI-crypto fusion moved forward; memecoins launched 13 million but then fell; privacy coins like Zcash rose 700%.
- There are structural underpinnings in place for development in 2026, with an emphasis on usefulness over speculation. Stablecoins are expected to reach $3 trillion by 2030.
In 2025, the crypto market had a good start because there were rules that favored crypto and institutions were interested. In October, Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $126,000 because more people were buying ETFs and rates were lower. The last three months of the year were the second worst since the bear market of 2022. After Trump raised tariffs, overleverage fell apart, and $20 billion worth of assets were sold. Ethereum reached $4,955 before falling, and altcoins like Solana saw DEX volumes rise to over $10 billion a week.
The market value briefly reached $4 trillion, but it was still unstable. Miners used AI to keep things stable, which was a mix of crypto and tech. By December, Bitcoin had settled down between $92,500 and $93,000, which was a stronger base after the reset.
Policy Shifts
This year, there were a number of changes to the rules. The GENIUS Act let stablecoins exist as long as they followed strict rules, like no algorithmic types or interest distributions. The House passed the CLARITY Act, which gives the SEC control over securities and the CFTC control over commodities. The SEC stopped big lawsuits against Binance and Kraken and started Project Crypto to make it clear what kinds of assets are network tokens and what kinds are commodities. This happened when Trump was president and was pro-crypto.
The UK, South Korea, and Hong Kong are examples of countries that have passed laws that help crypto. The party died down when the U.S. Senate put off ideas for how the market should work. A lot of changes are expected to happen in 2026. a16z says that these events made crypto popular.
More people started using crypto as big companies merged. Stablecoins grew by 106%, bringing the total supply to $300 billion and the total value of transactions to $46 trillion. The U.S. has more than $150 billion in Treasuries, which is more than what other countries have. RWAs rose four times to $30 billion, and tokenized Treasuries rose to $6.5 billion.
The price of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs went up 169% to $175 billion. Vanguard lifted its ban on cryptocurrencies after the launch of Solana and XRP ETFs, which held $11 trillion in assets. JPMorgan looked at dollar deposit tokens when Circle went public. When Aave’s market cap hit $24 billion, DeFi TVL went back up. Mobile wallets grew by 20% in emerging markets.
Things didn’t always go as planned. Hackers took $3.4 billion, $1.4 billion from Bybit and $2 billion from North Korea. More personal wallets were hacked, which is a sign that security is an issue. At first, people liked TRUMP memecoins, but they didn’t like MELANIA carpets. Quantum risks put $750 billion worth of Bitcoin in danger. Additionally, there are widespread rumors about TRUMP’s family business. Rumors that they manipulated the crypto market extensively to amass personal wealth. The New York Times also conducted research on this topic recently. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/technology/crypto-exchanges-dirty-money.html
Additionally, CZ, the former CEO and owner of Binance, is believed to be involved in these conspiracies. Major exchanges like Binance crashed on the day of the largest crypto liquidation, and orders were not processed. This resulted in the largest crypto liquidation in history ($19.37 billion). The largest liquidation prior to this had occurred several times during the coronavirus pandemic, with the largest amount reaching $9.03 billion. If you wish, you can view all liquidation events here: https://www.coinglass.com/pro/futures/liquidation-events
Tech Leaps: Upgrades and New Narratives
The delivery of Ethereum’s Pectra and Fusaka updates saved money. Solana raised its maximum throughput to 3,400 TPS. Bittensor’s halving and ICP’s Caffeine app-builder became well-known. The 700% rise in Zcash led to the growth of privacy tech. There was a fivefold increase in the number of people using prediction markets.
The CEO of Pantera Capital said that crypto prices didn’t meet expectations in 2025, but regulatory clarity, ETFs, RWAs, and policy changes led to huge structural gains. You can read about Ethereum’s upgrade which published by Kraken.:https://www.kraken.com/learn/ethereum-pectra-upgrade
In this article, we have provided a broad overview of the crypto year 2025. The sources used in the research are cited within the text. Updates and additions may be made.