January 2025 Crypto Market Analysis Report

In January 2025, the global crypto market's total market value increased by 7.2%, reaching $2.8 trillion, with varying performances among major blockchain platforms. Under the dual impact of new regulatory policies and breakthroughs in artificial intelligence technology, Bitcoin further solidified its market dominance, with its share rising to 71.3%.

Market Overview

The price of Bitcoin rose from $94,577 to $102,180, an increase of 8.0%. Meanwhile, Ethereum performed poorly, dropping from $3,353 to $3,292, a decrease of 1.8%, and the ETH/BTC ratio reached a nearly 5-month low.

This month, several significant policy changes have had a notable impact on the crypto market. The new government's cryptocurrency regulatory directives provide unprecedented clarity for the industry, particularly emphasizing the protection of self-custody rights and support for the development of stablecoins. However, comments at the end of the month regarding international trade tariffs have raised concerns about global economic growth, leading to a cooling of market sentiment.

The launch of two new tokens on Solana has triggered intense fluctuations in the Memecoin sector, diverting market attention and funds from other encryption sectors, including the blockchain gaming field.

In addition, DeepSeek's groundbreaking advancements in the field of artificial intelligence have also influenced market dynamics, accelerating the focus on decentralized AI infrastructure within the crypto market, with related tokens experiencing an increase this month.

Layer 1 Public Chain

In the major public chains, Bitcoin's market share has further increased to 71.3%, while Ethereum's share has decreased to 14.0%. Solana has surpassed a certain trading platform's chain with a market share of 4.0% (3.4%). Other public chains collectively account for 7.4% of the market share.

Solana continues to show strong performance, with a market cap increase of 22.0% to $112.3 billion, solidifying its position as the third largest blockchain by market cap. Among the top 20 chains by market cap, Stellar stands out with significant growth. Litecoin and Monero increased by 23.5% and 21.6%, respectively, while Cardano's market cap grew by 11.9% to $33.2 billion.

Among emerging platforms, Sui maintains a stable market value of $12.4 billion in a competitive environment. Although TON's market value fell by 14.0% to $12.0 billion, it still retains its position in the top ten. Hedera shows good growth, with a market value increase of 14.2% to $11.7 billion.

Traditional Layer 1 platforms such as Polkadot, Near, and Aptos are under pressure, with market capitalizations falling between 3.7% and 7.5%.

Bitcoin Layer 2 and Sidechains

In January 2025, the total locked value of Bitcoin Layer 2 and sidechains reached $2.6 billion, an increase of 5.2% compared to the previous month. Core maintained its market leadership with a TVL of $660 million, despite a 9.3% drop from last month, holding a 25.3% market share. Bitlayer showed strong growth, with a TVL increase of 15.2% to $430 million, while BSquared performed excellently, with a TVL surge of 19.7% to $400 million.

Rootstock and BOB ranked fourth and fifth with TVLs of $250 million and $240 million, respectively, with growth rates of 10.8% and 8.9%. Notably, AILayer's TVL grew by 13.2% to $230 million.

On medium-sized platforms, Merlin's TVL gently declined by 3.7% to $170 million, while Stacks maintained stable growth, increasing by 4.0% to $120 million. The performance of small platforms varied, with BounceBit growing by 7.3%, while newcomers like SatoshiVM and Naka fell by 11.6% and 14.9%, respectively.

Ethereum Layer 2

In January 2025, the total locked value of the Ethereum Layer 2 ecosystem dropped to $18.3 billion, down 6.7% from the previous month. The performance of market leaders has diverged.

Despite a significant drop of 20.4% compared to last month, Arbitrum maintains its leadership position with a TVL of $6.8 billion. Base continues its strong momentum, with a TVL increase of 14.0% to $4.6 billion, solidifying its second position. Optimism remains firmly in third place with a TVL of $3 billion, only slightly down by 0.5%.

Among the best-performing platforms, World Chain excelled with a TVL increase of 27.6% to $350 million, while Paradex surged by 50.3% to $37.2 million. ZK Rollups showed resilience, with Starknet and zkSync Era growing by 7.4% and 12.2% respectively, reaching a TVL of $900 million and $610 million.

Some mature platforms are facing challenges, with Blast TVL down 33.8% to $400 million, and Fuel down 47.3% to $110 million. Linea and Scroll also fell by 5.7% and 5.2%, respectively.

The competitive dynamics of the ecosystem continue to evolve, with Optimistic Rollup and ZK Rollup demonstrating varying degrees of success. As new entrants join the ecosystem, mature platforms focus on consolidating their market position by enhancing functionality and user experience.