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|4 min ReadCoinGecko 2025: Retail Bleeds, Casinos Boom, and Gold Wins
Carter Hayes
Senior Analyst
Published
Jan 18, 2026
The Supercycle was officially canceled on October 10. A historic $19B liquidation event—triggered by US tariffs on China—flushed the market, dragging the total capitalization down -10.4% to end 2025 at $3.0T.
This marks the first annual downturn since 2022. However, average daily trading volume actually hit a yearly high of $161.8B in Q4, proving that volatility remains the only product with product-market fit.
The "Digital Gold" Decoupling
The most painful metric for BTC maxis is the correlation failure. In a year where macro uncertainty should have favored crypto, BTC traded like risk-off Oil, not risk-on Tech.
Gold: +62.6% (The clear winner).
Nasdaq: +20.5% (AI narrative).
BTC: -6.4% (Outperformed only by Crude Oil and the Dollar).
Crude Oil: -21.5%.
Stablecoins: The Flight to Yield
Capital didn't leave the ecosystem; it rotated into dollars. The stablecoin sector surged +48.9% to a record $311B.
The Loser: Ethena's USDe imploded -57.3% in Q4 following a Binance depeg scare.
The Winner: PayPal's PYUSD surged +48.4% to $3.6B, flipping World Liberty Financial's USD1 to take the #5 spot, driven by YouTube creator payouts.
Institutional Bags: The DATCo Trap
Digital Asset Treasury Companies (DATCos) acted as the buyer of last resort, deploying $49.7B in 2025—half of which was spent in Q3 alone.
They now hold $134B in crypto (over 5% of total BTC and ETH supply). However, the strategy hit a wall in Q4. As crypto prices fell, DATCo stocks traded below NAV (mNAV < 1), forcing them to pivot from buying coins to buying back their own shares.
The Infrastructure of Speculation
While prices dipped, the machinery for gambling expanded aggressively.
1. Prediction Markets Flip
Volume exploded +302.7% to $63.5B.
The Regulated Flip: Kalshi (39.6% share) overtook Polymarket (32.4%) in Q4.
The New Challenger: Yzi Labs-backed Opinion (BNB Chain) emerged in November, hitting $7B volume in December via airdrop farming.
2. CEX Dominance & The MEXC Surge
Perp volume hit a historic $86.2T (+47.4%).
Rankings Shift: MEXC leapfrogged OKX, Bybit, and Bitget to take the #2 spot in Q4.
Notable Mention: KuCoin was the only other exchange to cross $1T volume.
3. DEX Leverage Explosion
On-chain perps grew +346% to $6.7T. The DEX:CEX volume ratio climbed to 7.8% (up from 2.5%).
Leaderboard: Hyperliquid led the year ($2.9T), but Lighter ($1.3T) snatched the Q4 crown through aggressive incentives.
Disclaimer: This document is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed in this document are not, and should not be taken as, investment advice or recommendations. Recipients should do their own due diligence, taking into account their specific financial circumstances, investment objectives and risk tolerance, which are not considered here, before investing. This document is not an offer, or the solicitation of an offer, to buy or sell any of the assets mentioned.