Dispatch #276: The year in review

• BTC’s market dominance
• ETH’s technical rise
• Stablecoins record year

The big idea

Crypto in 2025: From cycles to structure

2025 marked a structural turning point for crypto. This structural evolution encompassed improving macro alignment, regulatory progress led by the U.S., and broader institutional participation, even as price action remained mixed.

In a structurally evolving market, price performance told only part of the story. The rise of persistent institutional capital and crypto’s deeper integration into global macro dynamics reflected a system moving toward maturity and long-term capital relevance.

This evolution unfolded alongside a pivotal year for monetary policy. As inflation cooled toward the low-2% range and unemployment held near 4%, the Federal Reserve delivered three rate cuts totaling 75 basis points and brought quantitative tightening to a close. Crypto markets confirmed their sensitivity to global liquidity cycles, reinforcing their position as macro-responsive assets rather than isolated risk trades.

Even as momentum shifted through the year both Bitcoin and Ethereum reached new all-time highs, pushing total crypto market capitalization above $4.2 trillion at its peak. Bitcoin increasingly behaved like a macro asset, while Ethereum was supported by network upgrades, rising staking participation (now above 25% of circulating supply) and its central role in tokenization and stablecoin settlement.

Signs of maturation also appeared in derivatives markets. Bitcoin futures open interest climbed above $70 billion, while altcoin futures open interest exceeded $47 billion, pointing to deeper liquidity and more structured market participation.

Beyond the major assets, crypto’s institutional footprint continued to widen. New exchange-traded products linked to assets such as Solana, XRP, and Litecoin joined existing Bitcoin and Ethereum offerings, suggesting that regulated crypto exposure was gradually becoming more diverse.

2025 was defined by alignment. Capital, macro forces, and technology advanced together, shaping markets with greater strength, depth, and conviction.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin in 2025: Still the king

Bitcoin’s defining feature in 2025 was scale. The asset pushed to new all-time highs above $126,000, reinforcing its role as a macro-sensitive asset increasingly integrated into global portfolios.

That strength was supported by continued growth in institutional infrastructure. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs ended the year holding roughly 1.36 million BTC – nearly 7% of circulating supply with assets under management around $168 billion, anchoring liquidity and broadening access beyond crypto-native investors. In parallel, derivatives markets deepened, offering more robust liquidity and increasingly sophisticated risk-management tools.

Bitcoin’s price dynamics throughout the year reflected growing sensitivity to liquidity conditions and policy expectations, aligning it more closely with other macro assets. At the network level, miners continued to adapt by diversifying into high-performance computing and AI workloads, strengthening the long-term economics supporting the Bitcoin ecosystem.

By year-end, Bitcoin’s all-time highs had been achieved within a market defined by deeper capital pools, broader participation, and more resilient infrastructure – underscoring how far the asset’s market structure has evolved, even as volatility remains part of its nature.

Ethereum

Ethereum in 2025: Infrastructure takes shape

Ethereum’s 2025 was defined by execution — at both the protocol and institutional level.

On the network side, Pectra and Fusaka upgrades marked the year’s key milestones, improving execution efficiency, validator economics, and data handling. Together, they reinforced Ethereum’s role as a scalable settlement layer built for applications operating at institutional scale.

Adoption followed. Spot Ethereum ETFs attracted more than $5 billion in net inflows in 2025, confirming ETH’s shift toward a core portfolio asset rather than a niche exposure. Institutional interest extended well beyond ETFs, with tokenization emerging as a central theme.

The clearest signal came from JPMorgan Chase, which launched its first tokenized money-market fund on Ethereum – the largest systemically important bank to do so on a public blockchain. The fund was seeded with $100 million and allows qualified investors to earn yield on-chain with daily interest, real-time settlement, and USDC-based redemptions.

JPMorgan joins firms such as Franklin Templeton and BlackRock in pushing the tokenized money-market segment from roughly $3 billion to $9 billion in a single year, with these assets increasingly used as collateral and reserves across on-chain finance.

By year-end, Ethereum had cemented its position as the default settlement layer for tokenized assets, stablecoins, and institutional-grade blockchain finance.

Nexo

Nexo in 2025: Expansion, scale, and visibility

Expansion in Argentina: In 2025, Nexo expanded into Argentina through the acquisition of Buenbit, securing a foothold in Latin America. The move strengthened Nexo’s presence in a high-adoption market, where demand for crypto-backed lending and savings products remains strong amid persistent inflation pressures.

Second-largest crypto lender: Nexo also reinforced its standing as a leading player in crypto lending. According to Galaxy Research, Nexo ranked as the second-largest centralized crypto lender in 2025, trailing only Tether and ahead of other major CeFi lenders. The ranking highlights Nexo’s scale and resilience in a lending market that has consolidated significantly since the previous cycle.

Brand and strategic positioning: Beyond products and markets, Nexo continued investing in global visibility through high-profile sports partnerships, including the Australian Open and the DP World Tour, aligning the brand with established international institutions. Together, these moves formed part of a broader set of developments that shaped Nexo’s positioning over the course of the year.

Macroeconomic roundup

Markets in 2025: Easing, resilience, and repricing

U.S. markets set the tone in 2025. The S&P 500 delivered a mid-teens gain of roughly 15–17%, reaching multiple all-time highs (including a peak above 6,900) before consolidating near record levels into year-end. Equity strength reflected easing monetary policy, resilient corporate earnings, and steady consumer demand, despite periodic trade and geopolitical headwinds.

Monetary policy was central. As inflation cooled toward the low-2% range and unemployment held near 4%, the Federal Reserve delivered three rate cuts totaling 75 basis points in the second half of the year. Quantitative tightening was wound down and formally concluded on December 1, as Treasury yields eased – with the 10-year yield falling from above 4.5% toward the 4% area, helping loosen financial conditions. In Japan, the Bank of Japan lifted policy rates to around 0.75% while allowing greater yield flexibility, with the 10-year JGB moving toward the 1% area.

Defensive assets also surged. Gold broke above $4,000 per ounce and later tested levels near $4,400, while silver reached an all-time high near $69, reflecting sustained demand for hedges amid shifting real-rate expectations.

What defined 2025 was coexistence – risk assets and traditional hedges advancing in parallel as investors leaned into diversification and repricing in a world of easing, but still cautious, monetary policy.

The year’s most interesting data story

Stablecoins in 2025: Mainstream

Stablecoins went mainstream in 2025. Total stablecoin supply climbed steadily through the year, reaching nearly $300 billion in market capitalization, underscoring how these assets have moved from a niche crypto tool to core financial infrastructure. Usage followed supply. Over the past 12 months, stablecoins processed $46 trillion in total transaction volume, up 106% year over year. On an adjusted basis, organic activity reached $9 trillion, more than five times PayPal’s annual throughput. 

Monthly adjusted volumes hit new highs near $1.25 trillion in September, largely independent of broader crypto trading – a sign that stablecoins are increasingly used for payments, settlement, and on-chain liquidity rather than speculation. USDT and USDC accounted for 87% of total supply, while Ethereum and Tron settled 64% of adjusted transaction volume, even as adoption across newer chains continued to accelerate. By year-end, the growth in supply and usage made clear that stablecoins had become a foundational layer of the on-chain economy.

The numbers

The year’s most interesting numbers

716 million — The estimated number of people worldwide who owned crypto in 2025, up 16% year over year as adoption continued to broaden.

28 million — The number of cryptocurrencies created by November 2025, highlighting how easy token creation has become.

$4.4 trillion — The all-time high for total crypto market capitalization in 2025, reached as Bitcoin hit $126,000 and broader markets followed.

$112 billion — The total value of Bitcoin held in U.S. spot ETFs by year-end, underscoring how quickly regulated vehicles became a major channel for exposure.

$4,400 — Gold traded above $4,400 per ounce on Dec. 22, marking a new all-time high after a 68% gain in 2025.

Hot topic

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