Annual Review 2025

The year 2025 was extremely interesting for cryptocurrencies, thanks among other things to Bitcoin’s new all-time high price and the actions of the crypto-friendly U.S. administration. This review looks at cryptocurrency price movements and the most significant events of 2025.

              
First Quarter
The year 2025 began on the crypto markets in a positive and anticipatory mood. This was driven by the strong end to 2024 in terms of price development, when the price of Bitcoin reached a new all-time high and exceeded the 100,000 dollar milestone for the first time. In addition, the inauguration of the crypto-friendly U.S. administration took place in January 2025. Despite these positive expectations, Q1 as a whole was a negative period for the crypto market. After reaching its price record in early January, Bitcoin’s price fell significantly, and widespread uncertainty emerged in the market, which was also reflected in the price development of Ethereum and many other cryptocurrencies. For example, Ethereum’s Q1 was one of its weakest in a long time, as its price dropped by more than 50 percent over the three-month period. The negative price development in the crypto market was influenced by factors such as increased caution among institutional investors and macroeconomic uncertainty.
The year began with very interesting events in the crypto market, as Donald Trump, who was awaiting his inauguration as U.S. president on January 20, released the Official Trump (TRUMP) meme coin on the Solana network ahead of the inauguration. The market capitalization of Trump’s meme coin rose very rapidly to billions of euros, and as a result the meme coin received widespread attention, including from traditional news media. Another meme coin associated with the Trump family also reached a market capitalization of several billion euros very quickly. Melania Trump, who became the First Lady of the United States in January, released her own Melania Meme (MELANIA) meme coin less than two days after the Official Trump meme coin.
The new administration also immediately took action regarding cryptocurrency-related legislation. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) repealed the controversial SAB 121 rule, which had required financial institutions such as banks to record customers’ cryptocurrencies held in custody as liabilities on their balance sheets. After the repeal of this rule, it became significantly easier for banks and other financial institutions to hold cryptocurrencies.
In addition to the United States, positive news also came from the Middle East, as it emerged in mid-February that Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund had invested in a Bitcoin spot ETF. Mubadala Investments, the investment company of the capital of the United Arab Emirates, held approximately 415 million euros worth of shares in BlackRock’s Bitcoin spot ETF at the end of 2024. This was revealed in a filing made to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund can be considered one of the most significant investors in U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs.
During Q1, the crypto market also received negative publicity, as the largest cryptocurrency hack of all time took place in late February, when the originally Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Bybit was hacked. More than 1.4 billion euros worth of mainly Ethereum were stolen from Bybit’s cryptocurrency wallet. According to the FBI, the hack was carried out by the North Korea state-backed hacking group Lazarus. In practice, Lazarus managed to inject malicious code into an internal Bybit cryptocurrency transfer, which gave them access to the funds of one of Bybit’s wallets. Bybit survived the hack relatively well, as the exchange managed to keep, for example, cryptocurrency withdrawals operating normally after the incident.
Q1 ended on a positive note in terms of crypto news, as U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in early March to create a strategic bitcoin reserve and a separate cryptocurrency reserve (digital asset stockpile) in the United States. In practice, the creation of a strategic bitcoin reserve means that the United States will not sell approximately 200,000 confiscated bitcoins, and in addition the U.S. may acquire more bitcoins in budget-neutral ways. The cryptocurrency reserve, on the other hand, refers to other cryptocurrencies owned by the United States, and according to information released in March, this reserve is not intended to be expanded.
Second Quarter
In Q2, the crypto markets saw a clear change in direction, as several major cryptocurrencies turned back to an upward trend. Bitcoin recovered from its weak start to the year and rose strongly in Q2, restoring investor confidence across the broader crypto market. Ethereum also followed this development, with its price recovering significantly after the selling pressure of Q1. The rise was not as strong or record-breaking as in many previous quarters, but market sentiment became clearly more positive and indicated that demand for the crypto market was once again increasing. In summary, Q2 can be seen as a recovery period that balanced the relatively sharp decline at the beginning of the year.
In early April, the U.S. Senate confirmed crypto-friendly Paul Atkins as the new head of the SEC. This was a significant step forward for the cryptocurrency market, as Atkins’ predecessor Gary Gensler had sued several crypto companies, in some cases on highly questionable grounds. Atkins is known to hold up to 5 million dollars (approximately 4.3 million euros) in the crypto investment firm Off the Chain Capital. Atkins has stated that his main objective as head of the SEC is to provide a solid regulatory foundation for cryptocurrencies through a rational, consistent, and principled approach.
In Q2, very different positive news also came from the United States, as for the first time laws were passed in two U.S. states that allow the state to create a bitcoin reserve. In practice, this means that states can begin to own bitcoin. The first to do so was New Hampshire in the northeastern United States, and just a few days later Arizona in the southwestern United States followed suit. In addition to these states, several other U.S. states have similar legislative proposals progressing through their decision-making bodies.
During Q2, Ethereum received its most significant upgrade since the 2022 Merge, when the Pectra upgrade was successfully implemented on May 8. Ethereum’s price also rose strongly after the upgrade, increasing by approximately 50 percent during the week following the update. The most significant improvements of the Pectra upgrade included:
Wallets can temporarily function like smart contracts, streamlining the user experience in several ways
An increase in the maximum staking amount from 32 ether to 2048 ether, as well as easier and faster staking entry and exit
Lower transaction fees for Layer 2 scalability solutions and more advanced information management
Various technical improvements that enhanced the speed and scalability of the Ethereum network

Third Quarter
Q3 was an interesting period in terms of price development, as there were notable differences between cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin continued its upward trend and reached a new all-time high in dollar terms during Q3, surpassing the 120,000 dollar milestone for the first time. Ethereum, by contrast, made a clear comeback as a strong performer over the summer, with its price rising significantly in Q3 after mixed performance in previous quarters. Ethereum’s price also reached a new all-time high during Q3, close to 5,000 dollars. More broadly, Q3 also saw increased momentum among slightly smaller cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, with many projects benefiting from renewed interest in the crypto market and general macroeconomic optimism. This reinforced the view that in the third quarter of 2025, the crypto market began to diversify again and move somewhat away from the strongly Bitcoin-driven movement of the first half of the year.
In July, U.S. payments giant PayPal launched a new “Pay with Crypto” feature, enabling customers to pay for purchases with cryptocurrencies at millions of merchants worldwide. The feature initially supports more than one hundred cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin and ether. In practice, PayPal automatically converts the cryptocurrency used for payment into fiat currency or its own PYUSD stablecoin at the point of sale. The feature was initially launched in the United States and is planned to be expanded to other countries in the future.
Efforts to advance cryptocurrency regulation in the United States continued in Q3, as the Genius Act was approved in July. In brief, the goal of the Genius Act is to create a clear regulatory framework for stablecoins. The law focuses in particular on reserve requirements and oversight for dollar-backed stablecoins, aiming to strengthen consumer protection and support the role of the U.S. dollar in the digital economy. This represents a significant step for the crypto sector, as stablecoin regulation in the U.S. had previously been fragmented and unclear.
In August, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order that opens the possibility of investing in alternative assets, such as cryptocurrencies, through U.S. 401k retirement accounts. In practice, the executive order directs the Department of Labor, the SEC, and other agencies to review regulations so that alternative investments like cryptocurrencies can be approved for inclusion in 401k plans.
Fourth Quarter
In Q4, the crypto markets experienced significant downward pressure, as several major cryptocurrencies turned lower. Bitcoin declined from its early October all-time high of over 126,000 dollars, and Ethereum followed this downward trend. Overall, approximately one trillion dollars (850 billion euros) was wiped off the total crypto market capitalization during Q4. The decline was driven by factors such as profit-taking by institutional players, high use of leveraged products, and macroeconomic fears such as U.S. tariff threats. Market sentiment became clearly more cautious and risk-averse during Q4, even though Bitcoin reached new record levels at the beginning of the quarter. In summary, Q4 can be seen as a corrective phase that balanced the strong gains earlier in the year and once again highlighted the impact of external factors on the crypto market.
At the very beginning of Q4, Spanish banking giant BBVA became the first major Spanish bank to offer cryptocurrency trading to its customers. In practice, this means that the bank’s customers can trade bitcoin and ether directly in the bank’s mobile application. Initially, the service was available only to a small test group, but in October it was opened to all BBVA customers in Spain.
During the fourth quarter, very interesting news also emerged from two EU countries, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic. First, in October, Luxembourg’s sovereign investment fund (FSIL) announced that it had invested one percent of its assets in bitcoin. According to 2025 data, the fund has a size of approximately 745 million euros and is expected to grow by at least 50 million euros per year. In the Czech Republic, the country’s central bank (CNB) announced in November that it had created a test portfolio that included, among other things, bitcoin. In practice, this is a 1 million dollar (approximately 850,000 euro) portfolio that, in addition to bitcoin, includes a U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin and tokenized deposits.
Meanwhile, in the United States, the world’s second-largest asset manager, Vanguard, which manages approximately 9.3 trillion dollars (about 8 trillion euros) in assets, listed cryptocurrency ETFs on its platform in December. These ETFs included, among others, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP ETFs. Previously, Vanguard had completely refused to offer cryptocurrency ETFs, but growing customer demand and the high popularity of ETFs changed the firm’s stance. As a result, millions of Vanguard customers can now invest in cryptocurrencies through ETFs.
In the banking sector, the largest U.S. bank, JPMorgan, launched a fund on the Ethereum blockchain at the end of the year. JPMorgan’s tokenized My OnChain Net Yield Fund (MONY) received an initial investment of 100 million dollars (approximately 85 million euros) from the bank. This is JPMorgan’s first tokenized fund and also the first tokenized fund launched by a globally systemically important bank (G-SIB).
As several entities made significant bitcoin purchases during 2025, the most notable bitcoin acquisitions of the year are summarized below:
U.S.-based company Strategy, which specializes in bitcoin purchases, increased its holdings by 226,097 bitcoins, bringing its total to 672,497 bitcoins
U.S.-based bitcoin mining company MARA increased its holdings by mining and purchases by 8,856 bitcoins, bringing its total to 53,250 bitcoins
U.S.-based Bitcoin company Twenty One Capital, which went public in December 2025, increased its bitcoin holdings to 43,514 bitcoins during 2025
Japanese company Metaplanet, which specializes in bitcoin purchases, increased its holdings by 33,340 bitcoins, bringing its total to 35,102 bitcoins

Summary
The year 2025 was a dynamic year for the crypto markets, featuring both new all-time highs and significant declines. The beginning of the year was challenging due to the Q1 downturn, but Q2 brought recovery and Q3 strong growth led by Bitcoin and Ethereum. Bitcoin reached new record levels in early October, exceeding 126,000 dollars, but the year ended under selling pressure as the crypto market lost around one trillion dollars in value during Q4. As a result, Ethereum and the broader crypto market followed a similar trend to Bitcoin during Q4. In particular, price developments toward the end of the year reflected institutional investor caution and macroeconomic fears, even though institutional adoption and regulatory progress advanced significantly during the year.
Arguably the most significant overall development of the year was the action taken by the new crypto-friendly U.S. administration. These included the establishment of a strategic bitcoin reserve, the appointment of crypto-supportive Paul Atkins as head of the SEC, and the SEC’s decision to repeal the SAB 121 rule, which enabled banks to hold cryptocurrencies. Later in the year, the Genius Act created a regulatory framework for stablecoins in the United States, and President Trump’s executive order opened the door for crypto investments in 401k retirement accounts.
Throughout the year, the visibility of the crypto market was enhanced by actions from institutional players, such as Abu Dhabi’s sovereign fund investment in a Bitcoin spot ETF, U.S. state-level bitcoin reserve laws, asset manager Vanguard’s decision to add cryptocurrency ETFs to its platform, and JPMorgan’s launch of a fund on the Ethereum network. In Europe, major steps included the first bitcoin investments in Luxembourg and the Czech Republic, as well as Spanish bank BBVA’s decision to begin offering crypto trading. Several companies, including Strategy, MARA, Twenty One Capital, and Metaplanet, also significantly increased their bitcoin holdings during 2025.
The crypto market enters 2026 in a cautiously optimistic mood. The crypto-friendly U.S. administration and clearer regulation in both the United States and Europe create more stable foundations for the crypto market than before, although external factors such as macroeconomic developments continue to have a significant impact on price movements. Looking ahead to 2026, growing institutional interest and technological development within the crypto market, for example in tokenization and scalability, are creating highly promising opportunities. As a result, 2026 can once again be expected to be an interesting and eventful year for cryptocurrencies.

Ville Viitaharju
Cryptocurrency specialist