I noticed an interesting report on CoinGecko, which analyzes what happened in the crypto market in the first quarter. In short, it was not just a crash — it was a transition into a true crypto winter. Market capitalization fell by 20.4%, and now the market is valued at approximately $2.4 trillion. For comparison, this is 45% lower than what it was in October of last year.

CoinGecko data shows an interesting picture across sectors. Bitcoin, for example, dropped 22% in the quarter, and its current market cap is around $1.5 trillion. Meanwhile, the commodities sector soared by 77 — this was a clear outlier. Stablecoins remained steady at around $310 billion, but USDT supply has started to shrink for the first time since 2022. This signals that people are withdrawing liquidity.

The situation on exchanges is even worse. Spot trading volumes declined by 39%, totaling $2.7 trillion for the entire quarter. March hit a record low — only $0.8 trillion traded in that month. CoinGecko analytics note that on decentralized exchanges, Solana dominates with a market share of 30.6%. And on Hyperliquid, commercial traders currently make up about 30% of open positions due to demand for 24/7 trading.

Overall, the picture from the CoinGecko report is this: the market has entered a prolonged bear period, people are withdrawing capital, and volumes are shrinking. It will be interesting to see how this affects the second quarter.