This year, the cryptocurrency industry has undergone a dramatic transformation from chaos to order, from risk to regulation.

At the beginning of the year, a major exchange suffered a $1.4 billion theft, with hacker group Lazarus Group exploiting supply chain vulnerabilities to breach security. This incident fundamentally changed institutional risk perception—operational risk for the first time surpassed technical risk to become the greatest threat. The entire industry began to reevaluate its security systems.

In spring, global tariff tensions triggered risk-averse capital sentiment, and crypto assets became a barometer of geopolitical tensions. The direct impact of macro factors on coin prices became clearly evident, with market sensitivity amplified several times.

The turning point occurred in July. The GENIUS Act was signed into law, granting legal recognition to stablecoins for the first time in U.S. federal law. In the following months, multiple platforms launched listing plans, new stablecoin products emerged one after another, and the entire payment infrastructure began to incorporate compliance frameworks. This was not only a technological upgrade but also a shift in identity.

In September, the SEC approved general listing rules for commodity trusts. Crypto ETPs moved from niche products to standardized, rapidly growing assets, fully opening the door for institutional allocation.

October witnessed extreme market volatility. After Bitcoin hit a record high of $126,000, macroeconomic headwinds struck, with single-day liquidations reaching $19 billion. Although this purge was fierce, it thoroughly squeezed out speculative bubbles within the system.

By the end of the year, regulation and judiciary actions came simultaneously. Two leading stablecoin companies were approved to establish the U.S. National Trust Bank, while the founder of a once-star project faced a 15-year prison sentence. The old giving way to the new, toxins being purged—an era of greater transparency and accountability is taking shape.