-
The global crypto market lost $633.5 billion in Q1 2025.
-
It reflected an 18.6% decline in total market cap, driven by economic recession fears and waning investor confidence.
-
Trading volumes also dropped 27.3% QoQ, impacting both centralized and decentralized exchanges.
The global cryptocurrency market faced a staggering blow in Q1 2025, shedding $633.5 billion in value amid rising fears of a global recession and continued market instability.
This marked an 18.6% drop in total market capitalization, according to CoinGecko’s latest quarterly report. Trading activity also slowed significantly, with daily average volumes falling by 27.3% quarter-on-quarter to $146 billion, compared to $200.7 billion in Q4 2024.
“Investor sentiment was weighed down by macroeconomic pressures and the lingering effects of the Bybit hack,” the report noted, adding that centralized exchanges suffered a 16% decline in trading volume.
ATTENTION: Click “HERE” to join our WhatsApp group and receive News updates directly on your WhatsApp!
The slump followed a short-lived January rally sparked by optimism around political events, including former U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Despite the overall downturn, Bitcoin (BTC) retained dominance at 59.1% of the market, although it lost 11.8% in value, underperforming safe-haven assets like gold (+18.0%) and U.S. Treasury bonds. Ethereum (ETH) saw its market share slide by 3.9 percentage points to 7.9%, its lowest since 2019. In contrast, stablecoins emerged as relatively stable players—Tether (USDT) grew to 5.2% market share, while USD Coin (USDC) overtook Dogecoin to reclaim the #7 position.
The DeFi sector was not spared, as multichain total value locked (TVL) fell 27.5%, sliding from $177.4 billion to $128.6 billion by March 2025. Ethereum’s TVL dominance dropped to 56.6%. However, the entry of Berachain brought a breath of innovation—launched on February 6, the blockchain quickly attracted $5.2 billion in TVL, with Boyco vaults drawing $2.3 billion alone, establishing Berachain as a rising DeFi contender.
On the DEX front, Solana led in early Q1, commanding 52% of top blockchain trades in January, buoyed by a memecoin frenzy led by $TRUMP. But Ethereum reclaimed the lead by March with 30.1% market share, while Solana dipped to 23.4%. New entrants like Sonic and Berachain also pushed ahead of Optimism and Polygon during the quarter, underlining a dynamic, competitive ecosystem.
READ ALSO: CBEX Crash: Expert Warns Investors of Low Chances of Recovering Lost Funds
Elsewhere, the broader financial market reflected investor caution. Gold outperformed other major assets, gaining 18.0%, while equities like the NASDAQ (-10.3%) and S&P 500 (-4.4%) mirrored Bitcoin’s downward trajectory. On currencies, the Japanese Yen rose 5.2% and the Euro gained 4.5%, as the Bank of Japan’s rate hikes helped unwind carry trades. Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar Index fell 4.6%, amid uncertainties surrounding tariffs and geopolitical developments.
Leave a comment