2025 was truly a watershed year for the crypto industry. Extreme volatility, new technological trends, and growing recognition by institutional investors shaped the market. Bitcoin surpassed the $100,000 mark for the first time, and several major corrections, including a record $20 billion liquidation on October 10, served as a reminder of the risks involved.
In the opinion of Volodymyr Nosov, founder and president of W Group: ‘Lower liquidity and some capital outflow pushed out weaker short-term participants, while the positions of many long-term holders remained stable. For a young market, this type of reset is fairly typical.’
At the same time, attention gradually shifted from hyper-popular projects to tokens with real utility — artificial intelligence, RWA, and stablecoins became key drivers.
The investor profile has also changed: institutional funds are actively entering the market, while retail investors are behaving more cautiously. The geography of interest has shifted towards countries in the Southern Hemisphere, where crypto is increasingly used for payments and money transfers.
Against this backdrop, I have compiled my rating of coins that really surprised the market and brought profits in 2025.
2025 Wrap-Up: The Top 5 Crypto Market Movers
Bitcoin (BTC)
Key events
- Institutional investors dominate: spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted $25 billion, with about 7% of all BTC ending up in large funds.
- Market changes: volatility fell to 1.8% per day, with more than half of trading taking place during US business hours.
- Macroeconomic factors: Fed rates initially pushed prices up, but at the end of the year, profits were recorded due to fears of market overheating.
Price dynamics
- The first half of the year saw steady growth thanks to spot ETFs and the Fed’s easing policy.
- In October, BTC reached a new all-time high of around $126,000.
- In the second half of the year, there was a correction to $87,000–90,000, which is approximately 30% below the peak value.
- The result for the year: a moderate result, approximately -5% from the price at the beginning of the year. Analysts called 2025 a “year of respite.”
Ethereum (ETH)
Key events
- Pectra hard fork (May): increase in the staking limit to 2048 ETH, new features for regular wallets (EIP-7702), faster deposit confirmation.
- Institutional recognition: record capital inflow in August — $3 billion; BlackRock owns over 3 million ETH.
- Fusaka update (December): L2 scaling via PeerDAS, lower fees on Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base networks.
Price dynamics
- Q1: $3,300–$3,800 — expectations of an update.
- Q2: deep correction to $2,200–$2,800.
- Q3: peak of the year at $4,500–$4,800.
- Q4: stabilization at $2,900–$3,300.
Solana (SOL)
Key events
- Firedancer: a client validator from Jump Crypto with a throughput of up to 1 million TPS.
- Alpenglow: a new consensus, transaction finalization in 150–200 ms, record uptime.
- The emergence of Solana spot ETFs in the US, Canada, and Brazil.
- Solana often outperformed Ethereum in terms of DEX volume.
- Mass tokenization of RWA (bonds, stablecoins) in banks.
Price dynamics
- January: $290+ — peak of “meme coin mania.”
- Spring-summer: correction to $130–180.
- Fall: stabilization at $190–220, launch of ETFs.
- December: $120–125 — short-term bearish trend.
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT)
Key events
- Spring-summer: inclusion in the CoinDesk rating; WhiteBIT among the best derivative platforms; launch of WBT margin trading.
- Historic agreement with Saudi Arabia: As part of the Vision 2030 program, WhiteBIT became a technology partner of Saudi Arabia. The company is participating in the development of the central bank’s digital currency (CBDC) and the tokenization of the kingdom’s stock market, giving WBT the status of a state-level utility tool.
- December: inclusion in the five S&P Dow Jones cryptocurrency indices, attracting the attention of large funds and ETFs.
- Creation of W Group and global expansion: WhiteBIT has transformed into the W Group fintech ecosystem, which brings together 8 companies and serves 35 million users. The opening of WhiteBIT US in New York and entry into the markets of Australia, Brazil, and Argentina have significantly expanded the token holder base.
Price dynamics
- Annual growth: +130% (from ~$24–28 at the beginning of the year); 1784% year-on-year (YoY).
- ATH: $64.11 (December 10).
- Market capitalization: over $12 billion according to CoinDesk, top 15 on CoinGecko.
Hyperliquid (HYPE)
Key events
- HyperEVM (February–April): launch of Ethereum L1-compatible, TVL $2 billion.
- USDH (September): proprietary stablecoin for internal liquidity, 50% of revenue goes to the support fund.
- HIP-3 (October): permissionless listings for Perp DEX, 500,000 HYPE stake.
- Institutional recognition: partnership with Circle and Anchorage Digital Bank, opening doors to big capital.
Dynamics and growth
- TVL: $2.1 billion → $3.5 billion (+70%).
- HYPE price: $24 → $59.39 (+150%, September ATH).
Final thoughts
2025 clearly showed that the crypto market has finally reached maturity. It has become louder and more expensive, but at the same time much more demanding. Simple narratives and short-term hype have taken a back seat, giving way to infrastructure, real utility, and long-term capital. Even Bitcoin’s conditional “year of pause” did not mean stagnation — it was a period of accumulation and rethinking before the start of a new cycle.
The coins on this list surprised the market in different ways: some with their stability, others with technological breakthroughs, and still others with their transformation from niche products to institutional-grade assets. The main conclusion is simple: in 2025, profitability followed substance, not loud slogans. And if this trend continues, the future winners will not be the loudest, but the most useful.
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