2025 Crypto Year in Review: Institutional Adoption Soars While Altseason Fails to Materialize

Many traders entered 2025 with high hopes for explosive altcoin growth. Instead, the year delivered a mixed reality: strong corporate and governmental integration of crypto, but overall market stagnation.

An Atypical Year for Cryptocurrency

Past crypto years were easy to classify—bullish or bearish. Typically, three years of growth followed by one sharp correction. Most participants expected the cycle peak in 2025: even conservative analysts at Standard Chartered forecasted Bitcoin reaching $200,000, setting the stage for the long-awaited “altseason multiplier.”

Reality proved different. Bull and bear phases alternated. Q1 saw a mild pullback, Q2 and Q3 delivered impressive gains—BTC hit $126,000, total market cap topped $4 trillion. Yet profit-taking by large players, ETF outflows, and escalating geopolitical tensions shifted capital toward precious metals, dragging crypto back to early-year levels.

Bitcoin remained the undisputed leader, steadily increasing dominance. The top five stayed unchanged, while competition intensified in the latter half of the top ten: USDC and TRON solidified positions, Solana and Dogecoin lost ground.

Event of the Year: Passage of the GENIUS Act

On July 18, Donald Trump signed the Senate-passed GENIUS Act. At the World Economic Forum, it was called a turning point in global financial regulation.

Why? The GENIUS Act became the first U.S. law specifically regulating stablecoins, issuers, and market oversight. Notably, all stablecoins must be 100% backed by USD or U.S. Treasuries.

Europe made steady progress under the MiCA framework, though unevenly. For instance, Polish President Karol Nawrocki vetoed measures to tighten crypto oversight.

Regardless, crypto’s status is being formalized, and competition between regulatory regimes will largely determine global capital flows (so far favoring the U.S. over the EU).

Uncertainty of the Year: Trump and Crypto

Trump’s team positioned him as the “first crypto president,” with the leader repeatedly pledging to make America the “crypto capital of the world” by creating unique conditions for miners and industry players.

Markets priced in massive growth post-election—Bitcoin first broke $100,000 shortly after. Yet many investors felt let down by the lack of a federal Bitcoin reserve, which could have sparked a record rally and global competition for scarce BTC supply.

Trump’s statements became volatility drivers, alternately igniting hope and disappointment. Sharp criticism of Fed Chair Jerome Powell—even threats to remove him (despite lacking legal authority)—added fuel. Powell is likely to depart in 2026 due to term limits rather than political pressure.

Success Story of the Year: Stablecoins and BlackRock ETFs

While Bitcoin consolidated at year-end and many altcoins fell sharply, standout successes emerged.

Stablecoins processed $40 trillion in volume—comparable to Visa and Mastercard. Seven stablecoins ranked in the top 50 by market cap, with two gold-backed variants (Tether Gold, PAX Gold) entering the top 100. Investors increasingly used stablecoins to navigate volatility while maintaining exposure to hard assets.

BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) exceeded all expectations. Total assets surpassed $72.5 billion, leading all asset classes in performance and client activity. IBIT holdings approached 4% of Bitcoin’s total supply.

Another milestone: spot ETFs expanded beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum to include SOL, XRP, DOGE, HBAR, and LINK. Applications for additional tokens remain under review.

Hope of the Year: Prediction Markets

Polymarket surged in late 2024 with accurate U.S. election forecasting, outperforming most experts.

Long-term prospects were initially unclear post-election, but 2025 data confirmed steady growth across politics, sports, entertainment, and crypto price events.

Weekly volumes now reach tens of billions, with Polymarket (on Polygon) and Kalshi (primarily off-chain, building on Solana) undisputed leaders.

Regulatory acceptance grew, particularly in the U.S., shifting industry consensus from skepticism to recognition of prediction markets’ role in broader crypto infrastructure.

Comeback of the Year: CZ Returns

October 23 marked one of 2025’s biggest events: Donald Trump formally pardoned CZ, ending criminal proceedings.

CZ can now publicly engage with crypto projects, though his plea deal bars executive roles at affiliates. Regulators like SEC, CFTC, and FinCEN would likely oppose any return to leadership.

Still, investors reacted positively—BNB briefly surpassed $1,300 and set a new all-time high.

Conclusion

For many traders, 2025 brought disappointment—no massive profits, no long-awaited altseason. Yet labeling the year a failure would be unfair.

Stablecoin expansion and regulatory recognition, Bitcoin ETF growth, and altcoin fund launches all confirm strong institutional interest.

Measured in gold rather than dollars, Bitcoin’s decline has lasted about a year from its December 2024 peak—suggesting the current correction may be among the mildest bear markets in Bitcoin history.

Whether this holds true will become clear in 2026. The Trader Union team has plenty of high-quality content planned—deep analysis, news, and podcasts to help navigate the crypto world and make informed decisions.