January 2025 Crypto Market Review: Bitcoin's Dominance Further Strengthened

In January 2025, the total market value of the crypto market grew by 7.2% to $2.8 trillion, with varying performances among major blockchain platforms. Under the dual influence of new regulatory policies and breakthroughs in artificial intelligence technology, Bitcoin further strengthened its market dominance, reaching 71.3%.

Market Overview

The price of Bitcoin rose from $94,577 to $102,180, an increase of 8.0%. In contrast, Ethereum performed poorly, falling from $3,353 to $3,292, a decrease of 1.8%, and the ETH/BTC ratio hit a new low since September 2024.

Multiple important policy developments have had a significant impact on the crypto market trends. The new government's executive order on cryptocurrency regulation provides clear guidance for the industry, with a particular emphasis on protecting self-custody rights and supporting the development of stablecoins. However, comments at the end of the month regarding international trade tariffs have raised concerns about global economic growth, leading to a cooling of market sentiment.

A family of a certain political figure has launched a token on Solana, triggering significant fluctuations in the Memecoin sector. This wave of speculation has diverted market attention and funds from other crypto sectors, including the blockchain gaming field.

DeepSeek's breakthrough advancements in the field of artificial intelligence have also influenced market dynamics. This progress has accelerated the focus on decentralized AI infrastructure within the crypto ecosystem, with AI-related tokens experiencing an increase this month.

Layer 1 Dynamics

In January 2025, the total market value of blockchain rose by 7.2% to $2.8 trillion, with Bitcoin's market dominance further increasing to 71.3%. Ethereum's share continued to decline to 14.0%, while Solana surpassed BNB Chain (3.4%) again with a market share of 4.0%. Other public chains collectively accounted for 7.4% of the market share.

Solana continues its strong performance, with a market capitalization increase of 22.0% to $112.3 billion, solidifying its position as the third largest blockchain by market capitalization.

Among the top 20 chains by market capitalization, Stellar stands out with a significant increase in market value to $12.6 billion, while Litecoin and Monero rose by 23.5% and 21.6%, respectively. Cardano's market capitalization grew by 11.9% to $33.2 billion.

Emerging platforms maintain their growth momentum, with Sui's market capitalization stabilizing at $12.4 billion in a competitive environment. Although TON's market capitalization fell by 14.0% to $12 billion, it still retains its position in the top ten. Hedera shows good growth, with its market capitalization rising by 14.2% to $11.7 billion.

Traditional Layer 1 platforms like Polkadot, Near, and Aptos are under pressure, with market capitalization declining between 3.7% and 7.5%.

Bitcoin Layer 2 and Sidechains

In January 2025, Bitcoin Layer 2 and sidechains maintained a growth trend, with a total locked value reaching $2.6 billion, an increase of 5.2% compared to December.

Core maintains market leadership with a TVL of $660 million, despite a 9.3% decrease from December, still accounting for 25.3% of the market share. Bitlayer shows strong growth, with a TVL increase of 15.2% to $430 million (market share 16.8%), while BSquared performs excellently, with a TVL surge of 19.7% to $400 million (market share 15.3%).

Rootstock and BOB rank fourth and fifth with a TVL of $250 million and $240 million, respectively, with growth rates of 10.8% and 8.9%. Notably, AILayer's TVL grew by 13.2% to $230 million.

On medium-sized platforms, MerlinTVL gently decreased by 3.7% to $170 million, while Stacks maintained stable growth, increasing by 4.0% to $120 million. Small platforms showed mixed performance, with BounceBit growing by 7.3%, while newcomers like SatoshiVM and Naka dropped by 11.6% and 14.9%, respectively.

Ethereum Layer 2

In January 2025, the Ethereum Layer 2 ecosystem underwent significant changes, with the total locked value dropping to $18.3 billion, a decrease of 6.7% compared to December. The performance of market leaders showed divergence.

A well-known Layer 2 platform, despite a significant drop of 20.4% since December, maintains its leadership position with a TVL of $6.8 billion. Another Layer 2 platform continues its strong momentum, with a TVL increase of 14.0% to $4.6 billion, solidifying its second position. The third-largest platform remains in third place with a TVL of $3 billion, only slightly down by 0.5%.

Among the best-performing platforms, World Chain excelled with a 27.6% increase in TVL to $350 million, while Paradex surged by 50.3% to $37.2 million. ZK Rollups demonstrated resilience, with Starknet and zkSync Era growing by 7.4% and 12.2%, respectively, reaching a TVL of $900 million and $610 million.

Some mature platforms are facing challenges, with Blast TVL down 33.8% to $400 million, and Fuel down 47.3% to $110 million. Linea and Scroll also fell by 5.7% and 5.2%, respectively.

The competitive dynamics of the ecosystem continue to evolve, with Optimistic Rollup and ZK Rollup demonstrating varying degrees of success. As new entrants join the ecosystem, mature platforms focus on consolidating their market position by enhancing functionality and user experience.