- The market share of Bitcoin rose to 59.1% despite the fall of 11.8%.
- The 2024 profits of Ethereum are wiped out in Q1 2025.
- Defi TVL fell by 27.5% on multiple platforms.
The global cryptocurrency market started 2025 with optimism, fed by expectations of favorable policy shifts under the presidency of Donald Trump and a strong rally in meme coins.
But those expectations have since been interrupted. According to the last quarterly report from CoingeckoThe total market capitalization of Crypto fell by 18.6% in Q1 2025, so that $ 633.5 billion in value was wiped out.
Trade volumes have also taken a hit. The report shows that the average daily trade volume fell by 27.3% compared to the previous quarter. Spot trade on centralized exchanges fell by 16.3%, a decrease that was partially attributed to the Bybit -Hack earlier this year.
Despite signs of strength at the beginning of January, the concern about recession and fragmented investor’s interests led to a broad sale between digital assets.
Bitcoin performs better than altcoins but still falls 11.8%
Bitcoin retained its dominance over the wider market in Q1, accounting for 59.1% of the total crypto market capitalization – the highest level since 2021.
This shift emphasizes how investors have treated Bitcoin as a relatively more stable active compared to altcoins during uncertain periods.
Bitcoin itself, however, was not immune to losses. It fell 11.8% during the quarter and performed understood traditional safe ports such as Gold and US Treasury Bonds.
The report also noted that Trump’s newly imposed rates caused volatility on the bond market, which influenced the proceeds – an important statistics that were closely linked to digital activa streams.
Ethereum saw an even sharper reversal. It gave up his 2024 profits and returned to levels that were last seen before the Shanghai upgrade. The report attributed this trend to the falling decentralized financial activity (DEFI) activity and continuing concerns about gas costs and scalability.
Defi TVL and Solana activity are falling sharp
Multichain Defi protocols members considerably, with the total value locked (TVL) decreased by 27.5% during the three-month period.
Solana, who led the commercial space of the Decentralized Exchange (DEX) during the Meme Coin Frenzy in January, saw its own TVL fall by more than 20%.
Coingecko’s data indicate that the excitement of the market around tokens with Trump theme, in particular the Trump coin on Solana, has fueled a temporary peak in transaction volumes. However, this activity failed to support investor interest after January.
The Libra scandal, which came forward shortly thereafter, added further pressure on Altcoin sentiment and liquidity.
Despite these setbacks, Bitcoin exchange-related funds (ETFs) registered $ 1 billion in new inflow in the first quarter.
But the total control assets (AUM) on these ETFs still fell by almost $ 9 billion due to falling prices, which emphasizes the gap between investment intake and market trend.
Structural worries get deeper
Although some data points suggested limited resilience, almost every positive trend in the report was accompanied by a downward risk.
The report shows that centralized fairs, stablecoin volumes and Defi applications all registered lower activities in February and March all registered lower activities. Many projects lost traction as the macroeconomic care set up and the caution of investors grew.
Coetecko noted that the first quarter of 2025 represents one of the most challenging periods before Crypto since the FTX collapses at the end of 2022.
The report reflects broader concerns that the crypto sector, despite structural improvements in infrastructure and compliance, remains deeply vulnerable to global economic shocks.
While the fear of the recession retains and regulatory uncertainties continue to loom in large markets, the path will remain very uncertain for crypto in the coming months.
Although the rising market share of Bitcoin indicates a flight to observed safety, the wider market may need more than optimism and meme coin rallies to recover from the losses of this quarter.
