Binance Research on Key Trends in Crypto – June 2025
Main Takeaways
This blog summarizes the findings of the recent Binance Research report discussing key developments in crypto markets over the past month.
Bitcoin surged to a new all-time high of $111,970, buoyed by growing institutional interest and its appeal as a long-term hedge.
DeFi outperformed all major sectors in May with a 19.0% gain, even surpassing Bitcoin’s 11.1% rise, signaling renewed investor focus on protocol innovation and yield opportunities.
Thanks to Binance Research, you can take advantage of industry-grade analyses of the processes shaping Web3. By sharing these insights, we hope to empower our community with the latest knowledge from the field of crypto research.
This blog explores key Web3 developments in May 2025 to provide an overview of the ecosystem’s current state. We analyze the performance of crypto, DeFi, and NFT markets before previewing major events to look out for in June.
Crypto Market Performance in May 2025
In May, the cryptocurrency market rose by 10.3%, extending its bullish trend from the previous month. Market volatility remained high, mainly due to evolving trade dynamics between the U.S. and China. While both countries initially agreed to reduce tariffs by 30%, the relief was short-lived as tensions flared again. A temporary court ruling late in the month put a brief pause on all tariffs, lifting market sentiment, but the reinstatement of the levies soon after reignited investor anxiety and contributed to market fluctuations.
Amid this turbulent macro backdrop, major crypto assets performed strongly. Bitcoin surged to a new all-time high of $111,970, buoyed by growing institutional interest and its appeal as a long-term hedge. One notable example was TwentyOne Capital’s public disclosure of a significant BTC purchase, increasing the firm’s total holdings to over 37,000 BTC and signaling continued confidence from large investors.
Ether also posted a robust recovery, climbing 43.9% during the month. This growth was largely attributed to the successful Pectra upgrade, which introduced improvements in scalability, security, and the overall developer experience. The upgrade, along with Sharplink’s launch of an ETH-based treasury, contributed to renewed enthusiasm and strengthened the case for ether as a high-potential long-term investment.
Monthly crypto market capitalization increased by 10.3% in May
Monthly price performance of the top 10 coins by market capitalization
Source: CoinMarketCap
As of May 31, 2025
In May, Hyperliquid (HYPE) was the standout performer, soaring 78.5% amid growing speculation of an upcoming airdrop and aggressive token buybacks funded by transaction fees. The platform’s meteoric rise was underscored by record-breaking revenue – surpassing even Ethereum and Solana – and surging open interest, which hit an all-time high of $10.1B. With a 24-hour trading volume of $18.9B, Hyperliquid secured its position as the fifth largest derivatives platform globally, signaling a significant shift in market dynamics.
Ether posted a sharp recovery of 43.9%, reversing losses from the previous month. Dogecoin (DOGE) also made headlines with a 12.9% gain, boosted by 21Shares’ filing for a spot DOGE ETF and a massive 528% spike in active addresses, evidence of heightened user activity and network engagement.
Bitcoin rose 11.1%, hitting a new all-time high of $111,970 before pulling back slightly. The rally was fueled by robust spot ETF inflows and institutional accumulation, including the approval of BTC reserves in U.S. states like New Hampshire and Arizona. Meanwhile, BNB climbed 10.1% following the high-profile launch of the Trump-backed stablecoin USD1, 99% of which was minted on BNB Chain, cementing its role as a key player in the stablecoin ecosystem.
Other layer-1s posted more moderate gains. Solana rose 9.3% amid growing institutional activity, including a $1B shelf prospectus filing and DeFi Dev’s treasury allocation into liquid-staked SOL. Tron (TRX) followed closely with a 9.2% rise, bolstered by Tether’s minting of $1B USDT on the Tron network, which now hosts more USDT than Ethereum. In contrast, ADA and XRP saw minimal movement, gaining just 0.6% and 0.5% respectively. SUI was the notable underperformer, declining 4.6% after a $1.1M hack of the Cetus protocol raised concerns over platform security.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
TVL share of top blockchains
Source: DeFiLlama
As of May 31, 2025
In May 2025, DeFi Total Value Locked (TVL) jumped 21.4% month-on-month, mirroring the broader crypto market’s bullish momentum and the resurgence of interest in Ethereum and its layer-2 solutions. The Base network was a key driver of this growth, achieving record highs in addresses, transactions, and value bridged – largely fueled by increased activity in borrowing and lending protocols. Among major DeFi ecosystems, Ethereum expanded its market share thanks to the successful Pectra upgrade, while Tron posted slight gains. In contrast, BNB Chain, Solana, and Arbitrum experienced declines, signaling a rotation of capital back into Ethereum-centric platforms.
Stablecoin activity also saw renewed strength, with the overall stablecoin market growing 4.5% in response to favorable regulatory shifts and increased adoption on platforms like PayPal. Circle, the issuer of USDC, played a pivotal role in driving institutional integration by forming partnerships with major financial institutions to streamline cross-border payments and settlements. These developments boosted stablecoin utility, although USDC's market cap dipped as its share fell from 26.2% to 24.3%. Meanwhile, USDT extended its dominance, reinforcing its position as the leading stablecoin by market share.
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)
Monthly NFT trading volume
As of May 31, 2025
In May 2025, NFT sales volume rose 22.5%, buoyed by broader crypto market gains, though Ethereum-based NFTs continued their downward trend with a 20.9% decline. Despite this, Ethereum remained the top chain for NFT activity, while Polygon closed the gap, fueled by the growth of Courtyard’s RWA-based collectible card NFTs.
Bitcoin NFT sales also rose 14.4%, driven by Ordinals and BRC-20 collections. Notable performers included Guild of Guardians on Immutable, up 40%, and Ethereum collections like Doodles and Good Vibes Club, which also saw solid sales growth. While the market has yet to revisit previous highs, optimism is returning as NFT use cases expand beyond art into real-world applications, reflecting ongoing innovation in the space.
Upcoming Events and Token Unlocks
To help users stay updated on the latest Web3 news, the Binance Research team has summarized notable events and token unlocks for the month to come. Keep an eye on these upcoming developments in the blockchain space.
Notable Events in June 2025
Source: Cryptoevents, Binance Research
Largest token unlocks in US$ terms
Source: CryptoRank, Binance Research
Binance Research
The Binance Research team is committed to delivering objective, independent, and comprehensive analyses of the crypto space. We publish insightful takes on Web3 topics, including but not limited to the crypto ecosystem, blockchain applications, and the latest market developments.
This article is only a snapshot of the full report, which contains further analyses of the most important charts from the past month. The full report dives into analysing the net inflows of Spot Bitcoin ETFs, Bitcoin’s growing footprint in corporate treasuries, how DeFi outperformed all other sectors including Bitcoin, and how tokenized real-world assets continued to break successive highs.
Read the full version of this Binance Research report here.
Further Reading
Disclaimer: This material is prepared by Binance Research and is not intended to be relied upon as a forecast or investment advice and is not a recommendation, offer, or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or cryptocurrencies or to adopt any investment strategy. The use of terminology and the views expressed are intended to promote understanding and the responsible development of the sector and should not be interpreted as definitive legal views or those of Binance. The opinions expressed are as of the date shown above and are the opinions of the writer; they may change as subsequent conditions vary. The information and opinions contained in this material are derived from proprietary and non-proprietary sources deemed by Binance Research to be reliable, are not necessarily all-inclusive, and are not guaranteed as to accuracy. As such, no warranty of accuracy or reliability is given, and no responsibility arising in any other way for errors and omissions (including responsibility to any person by reason of negligence) is accepted by Binance. This material may contain ‘forward-looking’ information that is not purely historical in nature. Such information may include, among other things, projections and forecasts. There is no guarantee that any forecasts made will come to pass. Reliance upon information in this material is at the sole discretion of the reader. This material is intended for information purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or an offer or solicitation to purchase or sell in any securities, cryptocurrencies, or any investment strategy, nor shall any securities or cryptocurrency be offered or sold to any person in any jurisdiction in which an offer, solicitation, purchase, or sale would be unlawful under the laws of such jurisdiction. Investment involves risks.