1. Market recovery and political initiatives:

  • In January 2025, the crypto market capitalization reached $3.76 trillion, thanks to the Trump administration's policies, including plans to create a national crypto reserve and regulate stablecoins. However, by the end of the month, growth slowed due to the success of AI startup DeepSeek, which caused a 2% correction in the crypto sector and the US stock market.

  • Volatility increased in February amid rumors of new US trade tariffs.

2. ETF revolution:

- The SEC leadership change and departure of Gary Gensler have led to a record 47 applications for crypto ETFs, including meme coins ($TRUMP, $MELANIA) and niche assets. However, the approval timeline remains uncertain.

3. Tokenization explosion:

- The number of created tokens has exceeded 37 million, and by the end of 2025 it may reach 100 million. At the same time, 98% of the capitalization is controlled by the top 100 assets, which indicates market fragmentation.

4. Solana Dominance:

- Solana DEX volumes exceeded Ethereum by 300% in January, thanks to the $TRUMP and $MELANIA memecoins. Solana's TVL grew 35% to $12.1 billion.

5. The role of AI narrative:

- The DeFAI (decentralized AI) sector showed volatility: +90% by mid-January, but -10% by the end of the month. Despite this, AI maintains leadership in Narrative Mindshare (44%).

Market indicators

Market capitalization: Up 4.3% in January, but volatility remains (Figure 1).

Top 10 assets:

  • XRP (+47.8%) - growth due to native DEX activity.

  • SOL (+24.7%) — Leader in Memcoin Hype and DeFi.

  • BTC (+11.7%) - support for regulatory initiatives.

  • ETH (-8.2%) – pressure from competition with Solana.

Fig.2

Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

Fig.3

  • TVL DeFi: Modest growth of 0.4%, while stablecoin market cap increased by 6% to $217 billion (Fig. 3).

    Solana:

  • Record TVL ($12.1B) fueled by launch of $TRUMP and $MELANIA.

  • Jito, Raydium and Kamino protocols showed growth of 29%, 27% and 22% respectively.

NFT: Crisis or Reboot?

Fig.4

Total sales: Falling to $450 million (-40% compared to December 2024), the lowest level since March 2021 (Fig. 4).

Exceptions:

  • Base (L2 from Coinbase) — 344.8% growth thanks to partnerships.

  • Courtyard (NFT trading cards) - +53% in sales.

Failures:

  • Ethereum: BAYC (-18.5%), CryptoPunks (-8.4%).

  • Bitcoin: Quantum Cats (-65.3%).

Charts of the month

Fig.5

1. ETF boom: 47 applications in the US, including memcoins and asset baskets (Fig. 5).

Fig.6

2. 37 million tokens: Growing by 500,000+ daily, but 98% of capitalization is in the top 100 (Fig. 6).

Fig.7

3. Solana vs Ethereum: Solana's DEX volumes are 3x higher (Fig. 7).

Fig.8

4. DeFAI: Rise and Fall as the AI ​​Narrative Dominates (Fig. 8).

Events and updates

Fig.9

Key events in February: Digital Assets Forum, Arabian Blockchain Expo, ETHDenver (Fig. 9).

Major Token Unlocks:

- $SUI ($110M), $APT ($89M), $MELANIA ($74M) (Fig. 10).

Fig.10

Conclusion

February 2025 confirmed that the crypto market is driven by politics, tech trends, and speculative narratives. Solana has gained ground thanks to memecoins, and AI remains a key theme despite DeFAI volatility. Investors should watch:

  1. Memcoin ETF approval.

  2. Solana and Ethereum compete in the AI ​​segment.

  3. Regulatory risks for DeFi.

Binance Research | March 2025

[Read more: binance.com/research]

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Note: This material is based on a Binance Research report and does not constitute investment advice.

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