Crypto Q2 report: Total market value rebounds 24%; Circle leads listing boom

Author: Coingecko; Compiler: Felix, PANews

After a tough start to the year, the crypto market rebounded in the second quarter of 2025. The total market value of the crypto market surged 24.0%, recovering $663.6 billion of lost ground and ending the quarter with a market value of $3.5 trillion, just below the high point in January. But behind this recovery, the situation is much more complicated.

Despite Bitcoin's price breaking through the $100,000 mark again and Circle's listing rekindled investor enthusiasm, spot trading volumes continued to decline for the second consecutive quarter. Funds poured into Bitcoin, bringing its market dominance to more than 62%, while altcoins struggled to regain momentum. Ethereum performed strongly among altcoins, with significant quarterly gains, but it is still below its opening price at the beginning of the year.

At the same time, trading behavior is shifting. DEC's spot and perpetual contract trading volumes both hit record highs, with PancakeSwap and Hyperliquid standing out in their respective fields. As CEX trading volumes decline, traders are increasingly turning to DEXs, indicating that the way cryptocurrencies are traded is undergoing a broader transformation.

The second quarter of 2025 crypto industry report covers everything from the cryptocurrency market landscape to analysis of Bitcoin and Ethereum, an in-depth look at the DeFi and NFT ecosystems, and a review of the performance of CEXs and DEXs. Here are seven highlights from the report:

• In the second quarter of 2025, the total market value of cryptocurrencies rebounded 24.0% to $3.5 trillion, close to the high point of the year

• Bitcoin rebounded to more than $100,000 this quarter and hit a record high, and its share of the total market value of cryptocurrencies rose to 62.1%

• Ethereum prices rose from $1,805 to $2,488, but were still lower than the opening price of $3,337 at the beginning of 2025

• Circle, the first major IPO of cryptocurrency in 2025, was 25 times oversubscribed, with its share price reaching a high of $299, up 864.5% from the issue price

• Despite the market rebound, CEX spot trading volume fell 27.7% month-on-month to US$3.9 trillion in the second quarter of 2025

• In contrast, DEX spot trading volume increased 25.3% month-on-month, setting a new DEX:CEX all-time high

• DEX perpetual contract trading volume also hit a record high of US$898 billion in the second quarter of 2025

1. In the second quarter of 2025, the total market value of cryptocurrencies rebounded 24% to US$3.5 trillion, close to the high point of the year.

In the second quarter, the total market value of cryptocurrencies rebounded by $663.6 billion, up 24.0%, closing at $3.5 trillion at the end of the quarter. After falling 18.6% in the first quarter, this rebound marked a complete reversal of the market's decline and the market returned to near its high point for the year.

Despite the market's recovery, average daily trading volume continued to decline, down 26.2% month-on-month to $107.8 billion. This is the second consecutive quarter of contraction in spot trading activity. The trading volume in the first quarter of 2025 was $146 billion.

2. Bitcoin rebounded to more than $100,000 this quarter and hit a record high, and its share of the total market value of cryptocurrencies rose to 62.1%.

In the second quarter of 2025, Bitcoin's dominance continued to climb, up 3 percentage points from the previous quarter and 7.6 percentage points year-to-date. As funds continued to flow to Bitcoin rather than altcoins, Bitcoin's dominance reached 62.1% at the end of this quarter.

Ethereum, meanwhile, edged up 0.8 percentage points to 8.8%, recovering slightly from its multi-year lows in the first quarter. Ethereum was the only altcoin among the top seven cryptocurrencies to see an increase in market share. Stablecoins and other large cryptocurrencies all saw a slight decline in market share.

The “other” category saw its market share fall by 2.0 percentage points to 13.7%, highlighting continued weakness in the altcoin market.

3. ETH price jumped from $1,805 to $2,488 in the second quarter of 2025, but it is still lower than its opening price of $3,337 at the beginning of 2025

ETH closed at $2,488 at the end of the second quarter of 2025, up 36.4% from the beginning of the quarter. Its performance has surpassed other mainstream cryptocurrencies such as BTC, SOL, XRP and BNB. However, it has not yet reached the opening price of $3,337 at the beginning of 2025.

Despite ETH's bullish momentum in Q2, its trading volume fell to an average of $19.5 billion per day in Q1 2025, down from an average of $24.4 billion per day in Q1 2025. While institutional investors are still accumulating, this phenomenon may indicate that large transactions are being conducted through over-the-counter brokers.

Average gas costs continued to decline in Q2, falling to an average of 3.5 Gwei per day, down from 6.9 Gwei in Q1. However, the average number of daily transactions in Q2 rose to 1.3 million, up from 1.2 million in Q1.

4. Circle, the first major IPO in the cryptocurrency field in 2025, was oversubscribed 25 times, and its stock price reached a high of $299, an increase of 864.5% from the issue price.

Although Circle is not the first encryption company to go public, Circle's IPO on the New York Stock Exchange has triggered a wave of many cryptocurrency companies seeking to go public in the United States.

Circle went public on the New York Stock Exchange on June 5, 2025, creating a huge buzz among cryptocurrency companies seeking to go public in the United States. Despite initial concerns about its valuation, which many believed was too high, the listing was a huge success, with oversubscription exceeding 25 times.

CRCL stock experienced wild price fluctuations after its listing, closing at $83.23 on its first day despite an offering price of $31 per share. In the following days, its share price more than tripled, reaching an all-time high of $298.99 on June 23, an increase of 864.5% from its offering price.

Circle's IPO success has led to higher expectations for other rumored upcoming IPOs, including Kraken, Gemini, and Grayscale.

5. Despite the market rebound, CEX's spot trading volume fell 27.7% month-on-month to $3.9 trillion in the second quarter of 2025.

In the second quarter of 2025, the spot trading volume of the top CEXs was $3.9 trillion, down 27.7% from $5.4 trillion in the first quarter.

Binance remains the dominant spot CEX, maintaining a 37% to 39% market share throughout the quarter. However, its trading volumes were below $500 billion in both April and June. This was the case despite a bullish second quarter, with Bitcoin breaking new all-time highs in May.

MEXC, HTX, and Bitget were the only exchanges to see quarter-on-quarter growth, up 3.7%, 5.4%, and 3.0%, respectively. Notably, MEXC and HTX are now ranked second and third, respectively, replacing Crypto.com and Bybit.

Meanwhile, Crypto.com saw the largest quarter-on-quarter decline, falling 61.4% from $560.2 billion in Q1 to $216.4 billion in Q2. After occupying the second position in the first two quarters, it has now become the eighth largest exchange.

6. In contrast, the spot trading volume of DEX increased by 25.3% month-on-month, reaching a record high for the ratio of DEX to CEX spot trading volume.

In the second quarter of 2025, the spot trading volume of the top ten DEXs totaled $876.3 billion, an increase of 25.3% from $699.2 billion in the first quarter. With the significant growth in trading volume, the ratio of DEX to CEX spot trading volume rose from 0.13 in Q1 to 0.23 in Q2, a record high.

PancakeSwap was the platform with the largest quarter-on-quarter growth, growing 539.2% from $61.4 billion in Q1 to $392.6 billion in Q2. It is now the largest DEX, accounting for 45% of all transactions in Q2. This is mainly due to the launch of Binance Alpha in May, whose transactions are conducted through PancakeSwap. This also makes BSC the most popular chain for DEX trading, surpassing Ethereum, Base, and Solana.

DEXs such as Orca, Meteora, and Raydium on the Solana platform all saw declines, falling 40.5%, 56.8%, and 73.4% quarter-on-quarter respectively. As market attention shifted from Solana and meme coins in the second quarter, trading volume flowed to other chains.

7. In the second quarter of 2025, DEX's perpetual contract trading volume also hit a new high of $898 billion.

In the second quarter of 2025, Hyperliquid's dominance among the top ten perpetual DEXs continued to increase, 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. Aster, in particular, doubled its trading volume month-on-month after launching its Pro mode.

dYdX, which once led the development of perpetual DEX, has seen its trading volume continue to decline. In the second quarter, its average monthly trading volume was $5.3 billion, only half of what it was in January 2025.