2025 Cryptocurrency Market Review: Institutionalization and Ecosystem Divergence

Source: TokenPost Original Title: [Morning News Briefing] Analysis “This Year, Cryptocurrencies Entered the Institutional Market, but Market Response Remained Tepid” etc. Original Link:

2025 Cryptocurrency Market Review

According to the 2026 Cryptocurrency Outlook Report, the cryptocurrency industry made significant progress in institutionalization and regulatory clarity in 2025, but price performance was flat, and market reactions were relatively mild. Some first-layer ecosystems like Ethereum and Solana attracted attention due to their differentiated roles.

Core Market Dynamics

Market Size and Price Performance

• Cryptocurrency market cap hit a record high (USD 4.3 trillion), but price increases were limited to some tokens

First-Layer Ecosystem Differentiation

• Solana, BNB, Hyperliquid, and others became trading centers for speculative assets
• Ethereum’s roadmap centered around Rollup enhanced data availability(DA)Hub
• Emerging first-layer projects advanced ecosystem specialization around differentiation strategies

Infrastructure and Platform Development

• A leading exchange’s proprietary second-layer platform(BASE)became a new industry leader
• Institutional and consumer platforms, as well as second-layer infrastructure, were launched directly
• Large-scale tokenization of real-world assets(RWA) was adopted by institutions

Derivatives and Trading Innovation

• Decentralized perpetual contract exchanges(Perp DEX) and prediction markets drove on-chain trading volume
• Cryptocurrency investment(DAT) enterprises emerged
• Spot ETF markets for cryptocurrencies like Solana and Ripple expanded

Policy Environment

• The US shifted toward a clear regulatory framework

On-Chain Activity Data

Long-term Bitcoin Holder Trends

Bitcoin OGs (long-term holders) increased their long positions by 207,351 Solana. The address currently holds:

• 203,341 ETH with 5x leverage long positions
• 1,000 BTC with 5x leverage long positions
• 508,929 Solana with 10x leverage long positions
• Currently unrealized losses of USD 43 million

Bitcoin Cycle Analysis

On-chain analysts note that historically, it takes about 1,064 days for Bitcoin to move from bottom to top, and 364 days to go from top to bottom.