Crypto Cools Off. CoinGecko’s Take on the Post-Rally Reality
After January’s highs, the crypto market took a sharp turn—and CoinGecko’s new Q1 report doesn’t sugarcoat it. From altcoin wipeouts to DEX reshuffles, the post-rally reality is setting in.
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From Euphoria to Exhaustion
In January, the market roared.
January saw the crypto market reach fever pitch. Bitcoin surpassed $100K, meme coins created overnight fortunes, and the total market capitalization briefly approached $3.8 trillion—a high point just preceding Donald Trump’s second inauguration.
Then came the slide.
By the end of Q1, the market had shed $633 billion, closing at $2.8 trillion. Average daily trading volumes dropped -27.3% quarter-over-quarter, from $200.7B to $146.0B.
It wasn’t a crash. It was something more insidious: a collective exhale.
What CoinGecko’s 50-slide report captures isn’t just volatility — it’s the onset of fatigue. 2025 began with fireworks. By March, investors were reaching for coffee.
Bitcoin Holds, Altcoins Shatter
Not all coins are built equal.
Bitcoin ended Q1 down -11.8%, giving back some of its gains but holding firm above $80K. As the market churned, BTC’s dominance grew — rising to 59.1%, its highest share since early 2021.
Ethereum didn’t fare so well.
ETH fell a brutal -45.3% in the quarter, from $3,336 to $1,805, wiping out all the gains it made in 2024. Trading volume shrank too, down from $30B/day in Q4 to $24.4B/day.
Meanwhile, stablecoins quietly gained ground. Tether (USDT) climbed to 5.2% market share. USDC edged back into the top 7, overtaking Dogecoin. As risk appetite faded, capital sought stability.
Bitcoin stood its ground.
Altcoins — even majors — buckled under the weight of a reality check.
Political Memecoins: The High That Didn’t Last
Here’s where crypto stopped being economical and started feeling like satire.
January saw the launch of TRUMP, followed swiftly by MELANIA — meme coins inspired by the newly inaugurated First Couple. The result? A frenzy of political memecoins flooding pump.fun, with daily token deployments peaking at 72,000.
Then came LIBRA, promoted by Argentine President Javier Milei. Its collapse — from a $4.6B cap to $221M in hours — wasn’t just a rugpull. It was a warning.
After that? Activity on pump.fun dropped -56.3%. The daily “graduation rate” — tokens that reached sufficient liquidity to list — was halved.
It was a moment of clarity: not all virality is value.
The Centralized Slide
Even centralized exchanges couldn’t escape the chill.
In Q1, the top 10 CEXs recorded $5.4T in spot trading volume — down -16.3% from the previous quarter.
- Binance held its 40.7% dominance, but trading volumes fell below $600B in March.
- Upbit saw the steepest decline: -34%.
- Bybit, reeling from a February hack, dropped -52.4% MoM.
Only HTX bucked the trend, growing +11.4%. But the broader story is clear: liquidity is drying up, even on the biggest platforms.
DEX Wars: Solana’s Shot, Ethereum’s Return
On-chain, Solana had a moment.
In January, it powered over 52% of all DEX volume, fueled by memecoin mania and lightning-fast trading. That month alone, it clocked $184.8B in volume — an all-time high.
But euphoria is a short-term drug.
As the memecoin fever cooled, Ethereum reclaimed dominance in March, rising to a 30.1% share versus Solana’s 23.4%. Across Q1, Solana still led with 39.6% of volume — but the trendline suggests it won’t last forever.
Two new contenders — Sonic and Berachain — also broke into the top 10 chains by volume. For Optimism and Polygon, it’s a sign that the L2 race just got even more crowded.
DeFi Meltdown — and One New Challenger
Decentralized finance wasn’t spared.
Q1 erased $48.9B in total value locked (TVL) across multichain DeFi — a -27.5% drop. Ethereum, still the king, lost 35.4% of its TVL. Its dominance shrank from 63.5% to 56.6%.
Solana and Base were hit too, mostly due to token depreciation.
But one chain zigged while others zagged.
Berachain, which launched in February, reached $5.2B in TVL by quarter-end — now the sixth largest DeFi chain. Its Boyco pre-deposit vaults alone attracted $2.3B in day-one liquidity.
In a quarter of contraction, Berachain expanded.
So… Is This a New Crypto Winter?
CoinGecko never says the word “winter.”
But the signs are there:
- A steep drop in cap (-18.6%)
- Collapse in altcoin activity
- Shrinking volumes, shrinking TVL
- A retreat to Bitcoin and stablecoins
It’s not the 2022 collapse redux. But it is a moment of reckoning.
The market is recalibrating — technically, psychologically, and politically. And while the sentiment isn’t icy, it’s certainly cooled.
We’re not frozen.
But we’re no longer on fire.
Final Word: Not a Crash, but a Comedown
If the end of 2024 was crypto’s afterparty, Q1 2025 is the Monday morning. Investors are sobering up. Builders are regrouping. Even memecoins are learning the limits of irony.
And yet…
Bitcoin demonstrates resilience. New blockchain networks emerge. Risk landscapes shift, but inherent volatility remains.
CoinGecko’s message is subtle but clear: this isn’t the end. It’s a pause. A reset. A reminder that in crypto, rallies are loud — but the cool-downs say more.
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