2025 Blockchain Industry Development Report: Bitcoin’s Dominance Further Consolidated

In January 2025, the total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency market grew by 7.2% to $2.8 trillion, with significant differentiation in the performance of major Blockchain platforms. Under the dual influence of new regulatory policies and breakthroughs in artificial intelligence infrastructure 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 showed weakness, dropping from $3,353 to $3,292, a decline of 1.8%, with the ETH/BTC ratio reaching a new low since September 2024.

This month’s multiple important policy developments have had a significant impact on the cryptocurrency market trends. The new government’s executive order on cryptocurrency regulation has provided unprecedented clarity for the industry, with a particular emphasis on protecting self-custody rights and supporting the development of stablecoins. However, the remarks 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 political family has launched a token on Solana that has triggered significant volatility in the Memecoin sector. This wave of speculation has notably diverted market attention and funds away from other cryptocurrency sectors, including the blockchain gaming field.

DeepSeek’s groundbreaking 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, leading to a rise in AI-related tokens this month.

Layer 1 Development Status

In January 2025, the total market value of the 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 a certain trading platform chain with a 4.0% market share (3.4%). Other public chains collectively accounted for 7.4% of the market share.

Solana continues to perform strongly, 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 cap to $12.6 billion, while Litecoin and Monero rose by 23.5% and 21.6% respectively. Cardano’s market cap grew by 11.9% to $33.2 billion.

Emerging platforms maintain their development momentum, with Sui’s market capitalization stabilizing at $12.4 billion in a competitive environment. Although TON’s market capitalization has dropped by 14.0% to $12 billion, it still maintains its position in the top ten. Hedera has shown good growth, with its market capitalization increasing by 14.2% to $11.7 billion.

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

Bitcoin Layer 2 and Sidechain Development

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

Core maintains its market leadership with a TVL of $660 million, despite a 9.3% drop from December, still holding a 25.3% 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, with growth rates of 10.8% and 8.9%, respectively. Notably, AILayer’s TVL grew by 13.2% to $230 million.

On medium-sized platforms, MerlinTVL gently declined by 3.7% to $170 million, while Stacks maintained stable growth, rising by 4.0% to $120 million. The performance of small platforms was mixed, with BounceBit growing by 7.3%, while newcomers such as SatoshiVM and Naka fell by 11.6% and 14.9%, respectively.

Changes in the Ethereum Layer 2 Ecosystem

In January 2025, the Ethereum Layer 2 ecosystem experienced 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.

Despite a significant drop of 20.4% since December, Arbitrum maintains its leading position with a TVL of $6.8 billion. Base continues its strong momentum, with a TVL increase of 14.0% to $4.6 billion, solidifying its second place. Optimism holds third place with a TVL of $3 billion, only slightly down by 0.5%.

Among the best-performing platforms, World Chain excelled with a TVL growth of 27.6% 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 saw declines of 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.