We’re Halfway Through 2025 — How Has Crypto Been Doing?
Anyone still wrestling with the ‘true value’ of crypto can leave those doubts on Main Street — because over on Wall Street, investors are devouring the once-shunned industry.
Nearly halfway through 2025, crypto has taken center stage, thanks to star-studded IPOs, strong performances from publicly traded crypto companies, and the rise of firms embracing the ‘Strategy’ strategy.
But as we start to roll downhill, one big question remains — how’s crypto actually been doing?
Laughing all the way to the… blockchain: Crypto firms have held up well, but the broader market is right about where it started the year, a sign of cooling after a defining 2024. The total crypto market cap is down 1.8% to $3.32T, per CoinMarketCap. And while top coins like Ethereum (-27% YTD), Solana (-24%), and Binance Coin (-8.6%) have all slid, Bitcoin is playing a different game.
- Up 12.8% YTD, the world’s first (and most valuable) cryptocurrency has reached levels of dominance not seen since before the 2021 crash — as of June 24, it represented 64% of the entire market cap.
- In May, it even notched a new all-time high of $111.8K, though it’s pulled back since, currently trading at $105K.
The Real Star is Stable
While crypto has ridden its usual highs and lows, a different flavor of digital assets is experiencing a breakout. Thanks to new bipartisan legislation, stablecoins are suddenly the hottest ticket in town — and everybody looks like they want a piece.
- USDC issuer CircleCRCL, which IPOed earlier this month, has ridden the stable fervor of more than 620%+ given the newfound interest on Wall Street and announced a stablecoin partnership with FiservFI on Monday.
- Meanwhile, JPMorganJPM just dropped its own ‘deposit token’, while MastercardMA announced a partnership with fintechs like PayPalPYPL to jump into the space.
But why now? While the applications of stablecoins could help firms speed up settlement or make technical leaps, it remains to be seen if stablecoins will capture a market for consumers in the US. Stablecoins, of course, are already a much bigger deal outside of the US, where the technology helps citizens of less industrialized economies tap into the Dollar. But stateside, convincing folks to ditch their go-to Visa, Mastercard, or Amex might be a tougher sell — even though retailers like WalmartWMT and AmazonAMZN remain curious.