Author: Coingecko
Compiled by: Felix, PANews
After a challenging start to the year, the cryptocurrency market rebounded in Q2 2025. The total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency market surged by 24.0%, recovering $663.6 billion, ending the quarter at $3.5 trillion, just slightly below the January peak. However, the situation behind this recovery is much more complex.
Despite Bitcoin's price breaking through the $100,000 mark again and Circle's listing reigniting investor enthusiasm, spot trading volume declined for the second consecutive quarter. A significant influx of funds into Bitcoin has pushed its market dominance above 62%, while altcoins struggle to regain momentum. Ethereum performed strongly among altcoins, with substantial quarterly gains, but still below the opening price at the beginning of the year.
Meanwhile, trading behavior is undergoing a shift. The spot and perpetual contract trading volume of DEX reached historic highs, with PancakeSwap and Hyperliquid standing out in their respective fields. As CEX trading volume declines, traders are increasingly turning to DEX, indicating that the way cryptocurrencies are traded is undergoing broader changes.
The Q2 2025 cryptocurrency industry report covers everything from the cryptocurrency market landscape to analyses of Bitcoin and Ethereum, delving into the DeFi and NFT ecosystems, and reviewing the performances of CEX and DEX. Here are the seven highlights from the report:
In Q2 2025, the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies rebounded by 24.0% to $3.5 trillion, nearing its high for the year.
Bitcoin rebounded above $100,000 this quarter and reached a new all-time high, with its share of the total cryptocurrency market capitalization rising to 62.1%.
The price of Ethereum rose from $1,805 to $2,488, but remains below the opening price of $3,337 at the beginning of 2025.
The first major IPO in the cryptocurrency space in 2025—Circle was oversubscribed by 25 times, with a peak share price of $299, an increase of 864.5% from the issue price.
Despite the market rebound, CEX's spot trading volume in Q2 2025 fell by 27.7% quarter-on-quarter to $3.9 trillion.
In contrast, DEX's spot trading volume grew by 25.3% quarter-on-quarter, reaching a historic high compared to CEX.
In Q2 2025, DEX's perpetual contract trading volume also hit a record high of $898 billion.
1. In Q2 2025, the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies rebounded by 24% to $3.5 trillion, nearing its high for the year.
The total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies rebounded by $663.6 billion in Q2, rising by 24.0% and ending the quarter at $3.5 trillion. This followed an 18.6% drop in Q1, and this rebound marks a complete turnaround of the market, bringing it back near its highs for the year.
Despite the market's recovery, average daily trading volume continued to decline, falling by 26.2% quarter-on-quarter to $107.8 billion. This marks the second consecutive quarter of contraction in spot trading activity. The trading volume in Q1 2025 was $146 billion.
2. Bitcoin rebounded above $100,000 this quarter and reached a new all-time high, with its share of the total cryptocurrency market capitalization rising to 62.1%.
In Q2 2025, Bitcoin's dominance continued to rise, increasing by 3 percentage points from the previous quarter and by 7.6 percentage points since the beginning of the year. With funds continuously flowing into Bitcoin rather than altcoins, Bitcoin's dominance reached 62.1% at the end of this quarter.
Meanwhile, Ethereum slightly increased by 0.8 percentage points to 8.8%, recovering slightly from a multi-year low in Q1. Among the top seven cryptocurrencies, Ethereum is the only altcoin that saw an increase in market share. The market shares of stablecoins and other large cryptocurrencies slightly declined.
"Other" categories saw their market share decrease by 2.0 percentage points to 13.7%, highlighting the continued weakness in the altcoin market.
3. The price of ETH surged from $1,805 to $2,488 in Q2 2025, although it is still below its opening price of $3,337 at the beginning of 2025.
ETH closed at $2,488 at the end of Q2 2025, a 36.4% increase from the beginning of the quarter. Its performance surpassed that of other mainstream cryptocurrencies such as BTC, SOL, XRP, and BNB. However, it has not yet reached its opening price of $3,337 at the beginning of 2025.
Despite ETH showing bullish momentum in Q2, its trading volume fell from an average of $24.4 billion in Q1 2025 to an average of $19.5 billion. Although institutional investors are still increasing their holdings, this may indicate that large trades are being conducted through over-the-counter brokers.
Average Gas costs in Q2 continued to decline, averaging 3.5 Gwei per day, down from 6.9 Gwei in Q1. However, the daily number of transactions increased in Q2, reaching 1.3 million, up from 1.2 million in Q1.
4. The first major IPO in the cryptocurrency space in 2025—Circle was oversubscribed by 25 times, with a peak share price of $299, an increase of 864.5% from the issue price.
Although Circle was not the first cryptocurrency company to go public, its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange sparked a rush among numerous cryptocurrency companies seeking to list in the U.S.
Circle went public on June 5, 2025, on the New York Stock Exchange, creating a huge sensation among cryptocurrency companies seeking to list in the U.S. Despite initial concerns about its valuation (many believed it was overvalued), the listing was a huge success, with oversubscription exceeding 25 times.
CRCL stock experienced significant volatility after its listing; although the issue price was $31 per share, the closing price on the first day reached $83.23. In the following days, its stock price more than doubled, hitting a historic high of $298.99 on June 23, an increase of 864.5% from the issue price.
The success of Circle's IPO has raised expectations for other rumored upcoming listings, including Kraken, Gemini, and Grayscale.
5. Despite the market rebound, CEX's spot trading volume in Q2 2025 fell by 27.7% quarter-on-quarter to $3.9 trillion.
In Q2 2025, the spot trading volume of leading CEXs was $3.9 trillion, a 27.7% decrease from $5.4 trillion in Q1.
Binance remains the dominant player in spot CEX, maintaining a market share of 37% to 39% throughout the quarter. However, its trading volume fell below $500 billion in both April and June. Despite a bullish market in Q2 and Bitcoin hitting a historical high in May, the situation remains the same.
MEXC, HTX, and Bitget were the only exchanges to show quarter-on-quarter growth, increasing by 3.7%, 5.4%, and 3.0%, respectively. Notably, MEXC and HTX have now taken the second and third positions, replacing Crypto.com and Bybit.
Meanwhile, Crypto.com experienced the largest quarter-on-quarter decline, dropping from $560.2 billion in Q1 to $216.4 billion in Q2, a decrease of 61.4%. After occupying the second position in the first two quarters, it has now become the eighth largest exchange.
6. In contrast, DEX's spot trading volume grew by 25.3% quarter-on-quarter, reaching a historic high for the DEX to CEX spot trading volume ratio.
In Q2 2025, the top ten DEXs had a total spot trading volume of $876.3 billion, a 25.3% increase from $699.2 billion in Q1. With the significant increase in trading volume, the ratio of DEX to CEX spot trading volume rose from 0.13 in Q1 to 0.23 in Q2, reaching a historic high.
PancakeSwap was the platform with the largest quarter-on-quarter growth, increasing from $61.4 billion in Q1 2025 to $392.6 billion in Q2, a growth rate of 539.2%. It has now become the largest DEX, accounting for 45% of all trades in Q2. This is mainly due to the launch of Binance Alpha in May, whose trading is conducted through PancakeSwap. This also made BSC the most popular chain for DEX trading, surpassing Ethereum, Base, and Solana.
DEXs on Solana platforms, such as Orca, Meteora, and Raydium, all experienced declines, with quarter-on-quarter drops of 40.5%, 56.8%, and 73.4%, respectively. As attention in the market shifted away from Solana and meme coins in Q2, trading volume flowed to other chains.
7. In Q2 2025, the trading volume of DEX's perpetual contracts also reached a new high of $898 billion.
In Q2 2025, Hyperliquid's dominance among the top ten perpetual DEXs continued to strengthen, with a market share of 72.7%. Its trading volume reached $653.2 billion, ranking eighth among both centralized and decentralized exchanges.
Among the top ten, only Hyperliquid, Aster (formerly APX Finance), RabbitX, and EdgeX saw an increase in trading volume. Notably, Aster doubled its trading volume quarter-on-quarter after launching Pro mode.
dYdX, which once led the development of perpetual DEX, has seen its trading volume continue to decline. In Q2, its average monthly trading volume was $5.3 billion, just half of what it was in January 2025.
Related reading: Cryptocurrency Market Q3 Macro Research Report: Altcoin Season Signals Have Emerged, Institutions Driving Selective Bull Market Eruption
