2025 Cryptocurrency World Panorama: 12 Months of Celebration and Regret

Only a few days left until 2026. In the crypto industry, a single day’s change can be equivalent to a year in the real world. But for those truly involved, the feeling runs even deeper. 2025 sped by, and the passage of time makes events at the beginning of the year seem like a lifetime ago, as if they happened three years ago.

Looking back on this year, did you seize those fleeting opportunities? Or did you get a harsh lesson from the market? Are the tokens you bought at the start of the year still firmly in your hands? Which story left the deepest impression on you? And in which month did that moment occur?

Many memories have become fuzzy. The memory span of the crypto market is unusually short—hot topics from three months ago are now forgotten; those bold predictions made back then now seem embarrassing.

We have compiled a complete market chronicle of 2025, reviewing major events month by month: how various tokens rose and fell spectacularly, what the entire network was talking about. No predictions, no evaluations—just helping you recall the moments we experienced together.

January: AI Agents’ Starlight Moments and the TRUMP Miracle

Keywords: AI Agents, Political Memes, Optimism, Cooling at Month’s End

January’s main character is AI agents. On January 2nd, AI16Z hit a new all-time high of $2.47, with a market cap soaring to $2.5 billion, becoming the first AI token on Solana to break this milestone. Names like AIXBT, ARC, ZEREBRO, GRIFFAIN frequently appeared in discussions. Political meme coins also took center stage. On January 17th, the official $TRUMP token launched, skyrocketing from under $1 to a historic high of $75 within two days, with a market cap surpassing $14 billion. The shock of that moment remains unforgettable—seeing TRUMP’s crazy surge in the morning, everyone questioned whether it was truly an official token, but once confirmed, this presidential-level token issuance became an unprecedented event in the industry.

Meanwhile, XRP rose 50% on news of Ripple’s leadership engaging with government officials, and the market began betting on it becoming the first mainstream altcoin to receive ETF approval. On the macro level, the policy support announced on January 23rd brought extreme optimism. However, by month’s end, the situation reversed—mid-January, the release of a well-known AI model directly challenged the narrative of AI agents, and those AI tokens that had just taken off returned to their original levels within weeks.

February: Hacker Storms and Political Dreams Shattered

Keywords: Major Security Incidents, Meme Token Collapse, Large-Scale Liquidations

February 21st saw a well-known exchange suffer the industry’s largest hack in history, with approximately 400,000 ETH ($1.5 billion) stolen—exceeding even the collapse of a famous platform in 2022.

At the same time, trust in political meme coins was completely shattered. On February 14th, a country’s president posted a token on social media, which surged to under $5 in 40 minutes, with a market cap of $4.5 billion. Hours later, the price plummeted 85%, causing over 40,000 investors to lose more than $250 million. The official then deleted the post and denied involvement, and similar political tokens began to decline collectively.

Between February 24th and 27th, Bitcoin experienced its darkest three days since the collapse of a certain platform in 2022, with a weekly decline of 12.6%, and about $3 billion in margin positions liquidated. Meme tokens were halved overall, and the total value locked (TVL) on a certain blockchain dropped 30%. But there were exceptions—on February 20th, a network officially launched its mainnet, with the token rising to $2.98, and discussions about “the recommendation mechanism finally monetized” became rampant.

March: Policy Warmth and Tariff Fears

Keywords: Strategic Reserves, Tariff Shock, Meme Token Collapse, Major Company Doubling Down

In March, good news came from policy circles: a country’s leader held the industry’s first-ever crypto summit at the White House, signing an executive order to establish a “Bitcoin Strategic Reserve.” Subsequently, XRP, SOL, and ADA were also included in digital asset reserves, with ADA soaring 70% in a single day and breaking $1. The market believed that regulatory policies had fundamentally shifted.

But the positive news couldn’t sustain the market. Trade conflict threats triggered panic in trading wars, and risk assets were sold off en masse. Meme tokens experienced a collective collapse, falling 40-60%. An unexpected bright spot was a certain blockchain ecosystem— a Middle Eastern-themed meme token surged a thousandfold after being mentioned several times by a venture capitalist, with trading volume once surpassing Solana.

The biggest trust crisis this month occurred on a certain derivatives platform: attackers used a token to short and manipulate prices, causing over $12 million in vault losses. The platform voted to delist the token and forcibly settle—“decentralized exchange” resolving the crisis in a centralized manner, prompting many to rethink the definition of DEX.

Off-chain, a well-known company continued buying Bitcoin, announcing in March the issuance of $500 million preferred shares to purchase BTC, reaffirming their unwavering faith in Bitcoin.

April: Policy Adjustments and Emotional Recovery

Keywords: Tariff Suspension, Regulatory Shift, ETH Options Listing, Market Rebound

April marked the moment of emotional recovery. On April 9th, a 90-day tariff suspension was announced, causing U.S. stocks to rise to their highest since 2008; on the same day, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved options trading for a major cryptocurrency, making institutional tools more accessible. The new head of a regulatory agency took office, with a pro-crypto stance injecting hope into the market.

This month, the crypto industry’s market cap rebounded by 10.8%, with Bitcoin bouncing from a low of $76,000 at the start of the month to over $90,000 by month’s end. Canada launched the world’s first spot ETF for a certain blockchain ecosystem token, and news of partnerships with trust institutions and payment giants caused that ecosystem’s token to rise over 50%. Meme tokens also regained activity— a humorous-themed coin rebounded a thousandfold from the bottom, leading the rebound. After the severe tests of February and March, April was the first time many felt “We’re back.”

May: All-Time Highs and “We’re So Back”

Keywords: Record Highs, Trade Talks, Major Upgrades, Narrative Explosion

May was the most optimistic month of 2025 so far. On May 2nd, the U.S. and another major country reached a 90-day ceasefire agreement on trade issues, lifting the cloud of trade war and leading risk assets to recover collectively.

On May 7th, a major cryptocurrency completed its largest hard fork upgrade since a significant event in 2022. Although the immediate price didn’t reflect this, the coin rose 44% over the month, with market sentiment clearly improving. Meanwhile, Bitcoin broke $110,000 to set a new all-time high, and the entire crypto market blossomed.

The narrative of “companies holding digital assets on their balance sheets” gained momentum. Gaming companies and tech firms bought Bitcoin and ETH in large quantities, mimicking a certain company’s approach. On-chain, innovative gaming mechanisms appeared— a platform allowed users to easily create tokens with simple operations, sparking a “network capital market” craze; the platform’s tokens multiplied several times within a month.

AI tokens experienced a second wave of hotness, with a certain AI protocol launching a genesis release platform, and related tokens rising 60% in a month. Social mining gained official recognition, with participation enthusiasm reaching unprecedented levels, and related tokens surged 190% in a month—“earning with your mouth” became mainstream. A derivatives platform’s token increased 75% in a month, and discussions in Chinese communities praised its unique DEX model and high “per capita efficiency”—minimal staff, maximum profit. May was friendly to everyone—the entire ecosystem finally came alive.

June: Stablecoin Explosion and Tokenization Launch

Keywords: Stablecoin Listings, Massive Funding, Corporate Asset Purchases, Equity Tokenization

June’s narrative was entirely dominated by stablecoins. On June 5th, a stablecoin company listed on Nasdaq, with an IPO price of $31, oversubscribed 25 times; on June 23rd, its stock hit a record high of $298.99, nearly nine times the IPO price. This was a shining moment for crypto-native companies on the U.S. stock stage and a milestone for stablecoins gaining recognition from traditional capital.

Four days later, an even bigger wave hit. Another stablecoin project conducted a public sale on a certain platform, raising $500 million in five minutes, then the cap was raised to $1 billion and filled within 30 minutes. Investors included the CEO of a well-known stablecoin company, prominent venture capitalists, and a founder of a certain exchange. The hype around “stablecoin infrastructure” exceeded all expectations.

The narrative of corporate asset purchases continued to evolve. One company kept buying, purchasing 1,088 BTC in January; a DeFi firm announced raising $5 billion to buy another major coin, claiming to be the “MicroStrategy of .” A gaming company increased its ETH holdings to 188,000.

At month’s end, a new narrative quietly emerged: U.S. equity tokenization. A platform and an exchange launched tokenized stock services, with over 60 U.S. stocks (Tesla, Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, etc.) trading as tokens on a certain blockchain. Meanwhile, Ethereum’s staked TVL reached a record high, and a derivatives platform solidified its leadership in decentralized futures trading. Meme tokens also had their stars— a banana-themed coin began to surge wildly, and a useless-themed coin soared over 2000% due to its absurd concept.

July: Regulatory Breakthroughs and Innovation

Keywords: Stablecoin Bill, New Highs, Tokenization Expansion, NFT Innovation

On July 18th, a country’s president signed the first-ever federal stablecoin regulation in U.S. history. Bitcoin also gained strength—starting July 10th, it rose, breaking the $120,000 all-time high on the 14th, with ETF net inflows reaching a record $1.2 billion in a single day. Ethereum followed, hitting a new high of $3,848 on July 21st.

The tokenization craze continued to heat up. A well-known brokerage platform launched over 200 U.S. stock tokens on a certain L2 network, including private tokens of a tech giant and a space company. A certain ecosystem token submitted an application, aiming to become the first ETF globally to include NFTs.

The stablecoin blockchain race kicked off. A stablecoin project supported by a certain stablecoin company and exchange announced a roadmap on July 1st; shortly after, a payment company’s stablecoin blockchain joined the fray, vying for market share. Meme tokens remained active— one surged over 100%, another, an old project, rose 160%. Overall, the atmosphere remained positive.

August: Exchange Tokens Lead, New Data Applications

Keywords: Exchange Token Surge, Derivatives Platform Integration, Data Tokenization, Celebrity Token Fluctuations

August’s impression was “not bad.” After reaching a new high of $124,000 in mid-August, Bitcoin retreated, closing near $108,000 at month’s end. But the altcoin market was exceptionally hot, with exchange tokens leading the gains.

On August 13th, a certain exchange announced a one-time burn of 65.25 million platform tokens, reducing total supply from 300 million to 21 million; simultaneously, it upgraded its L2 network. This news drove the token up 170% to a new high of $148, then even touched $255, nearly quadrupling from its low. Another blockchain was integrated into a major exchange, confirming it would be used as a fee token on that platform.

On August 28th, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced cooperation with a certain oracle platform to tokenize macroeconomic data like GDP and PCE. This pushed that oracle’s token up 61% in August, and another oracle’s token surged over 70% on the same day.

Hong Kong officially implemented stablecoin regulation. On August 1st, the “Stablecoin Regulations” took effect, and financial authorities opened license applications; some e-commerce giants expressed interest (though later withdrew for various reasons).

Celebrity tokens staged another drama. On August 21st, a famous musician launched a token on a certain blockchain, which surged 1,400% to $3 within an hour, with a FDV of $3 billion, then plummeted 80%, nearly zeroing out. The official claimed the account was hacked, and the token was fake. Whether true or false, it became another classic “fans paying the bill” story.

In social tokens, a certain platform surged over 100% due to integration with a major wallet app and a creator coin craze, reaching a high of $0.15. A launch platform revived, earning $46 million in August, reclaiming most of the market share on that blockchain’s Launchpad.

September: Rate Cuts, New IPO Waves

Keywords: Central Bank Rate Cuts, Crypto IPO Boom, AI Payments, DEX Competition

On September 17th, the Federal Reserve announced its first rate cut of 25 basis points this year. In the same month, a stablecoin company conducted private funding, valuing at $50 billion, once again shocking the market (though it had little relation to most retail investors).

However, a new protocol launched by the co-founder in September sparked a frenzy—after listing on a certain platform on the 16th, it surged 455% in one day, with a FDV exceeding $1 billion, and the token increased 44 times within a month.

Crypto enterprise IPOs saw a small burst: on September 11th, a certain RWA (real-world asset) company listed on Nasdaq as the “first RWA stock,” and the next day, another exchange also went public. Wall Street’s attitude toward crypto visibly changed.

On-chain derivatives entered the “DEX war” phase— a certain platform unexpectedly exploded, with its token rising 2,800% in the first week, and seven-day trading volume surpassing that of another platform. Meanwhile, a yield token increased 160% due to aggressive buybacks (over $95 million total), hitting an ATH on September 14th. A certain ecosystem token listed on another platform surged 660%. Another blockchain’s trust product launched by a large asset management firm rose 19.7%. A certain L2 increased 130% due to ecosystem expansion.

At month’s end, a major exchange announced a new protocol, setting the stage for the upcoming two months’ hot trend.

October: Meme Hotspots and Massive Liquidations

Keywords: Chinese Cultural Meme, Trillion-Level Liquidations, Market Freeze

October was supposed to be a bullish month. A Chinese meme token launched on October 4th: “Driving a certain platform’s car, living in a certain platform’s house, enjoying the life on a certain platform.” This meme struck a chord with the Chinese community, and within five days, its market cap grew from zero to $500 million, a 3,000% increase.

Bitcoin hit new highs early in the month (reaching 126K on the 3rd), but on the 11th, a historic event occurred: $19 billion in margin positions were liquidated within 24 hours— the largest single-day liquidation in crypto history. Liquidity and sentiment plummeted. Although a certain privacy coin performed somewhat during this period, the entire market showed no bright spots, and both institutions and retail investors suffered huge losses.

November: Privacy Narratives and Short-Lived AI Payment Boom

Keywords: Privacy Coins Surge, Liquidation Aftershocks, AI Payments Hot, Corporate Purchases Cool

The liquidation aftermath of October extended into November, worsening the situation. BTC fell from 110K to 80K in the month, hitting a six-month low. Total market cap shrank from $4.2 trillion to $3.2 trillion, nearly evaporating $1 trillion. A major Bitcoin ETF experienced its highest monthly outflow ever.

But even in a bear market, there were opportunities to profit. Privacy tokens unexpectedly became “safe havens”— one privacy coin rose from $40 in September to over $600 in November, a gain of over 1,200%. Another privacy coin increased from $20 to $136, a sixfold rise.

AI payment narratives briefly shone. A new protocol on a certain exchange enabled AI agents to autonomously pay, causing related tokens to soar from zero to a market cap of $70 million, with other payment-related tokens also taking off. But the hot trend quickly cooled, and by month’s end, the enthusiasm waned significantly.

The strategy of corporate asset purchases began to collapse. A certain company fell 36% in November; a financial index firm considered removing it from its index; other companies holding major tokens also declined. The market was again concerned about the nearly 190,000 BTC seized in a scam case possibly facing sell-offs, reinforcing the stereotype of “crypto=money laundering.”

December: Electric Scooters, Waiting, and Silence

Keywords: No Major Events, Quiet Market, Waiting for Liquidity

December saw no major events or grand narratives. People rode electric scooters for daily deliveries, and the market was also “delivering”—but this time, what was passed on was silence, not passion.

Conversations no longer revolved around trading positions but turned into gossip: who ran away, who embezzled under the guise of scams, who turned against each other for money. Some called this “the silent bear market”—slow and silent, as everyone’s enthusiasm gradually faded.

The only consensus was waiting. Waiting for liquidity to return.

The new year is approaching. We are in the crypto world, unsure of where the road leads, but still moving forward. Hoping that 2026 will be better.