After a tumultuous first quarter in which bitcoin dropped 25% from its peak value. At the same time, institutional crypto trading volumes exploded, up 141% year-over-year. That downward trend only accelerated as the second quarter of the year kicked off, largely driven by shocks such as Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs.
On Wednesday, Bitcoin fell as low as $74,500 before recovering to close the session at $82,600. That boom led to a historically massive gain of more than 8% for the day. This recovery shows that volatility in the cryptocurrency market remains, despite a growing interest from institutions.
Perhaps the most significant example of this is the advent of stablecoins. The relatively young stablecoin sector quickly established itself as the most resilient sector during the quarter. Stablecoin total market capitalization reached over $230 billion. Since January, the overall stablecoin market cap has increased by about $20 billion. Crypto-to-stablecoin transactions accounted for the fastest growth, up five times since Q1 2024.
"The differential between transaction types suggests a clear institutional preference for stablecoins, likely driven by their enhanced utility in bridging traditional finance and the crypto space,"
The increasing stablecoin adoption reflects their critical role within institutional crypto trading.
Finery’s collaboration with Zodia Markets to enhance institutional accessibility for digital asset and fiat liquidity. This partnership is a response to the growing need for integration between traditional financial infrastructure and the digital asset ecosystem.
Even as Bitcoin continues to make up a growing share of the industry, altcoins’ access to trading volume is almost negligible. The combined top five non-ETH altcoins—SOL, LTC, XRP, TRX, and ADA—made up a mere 4.7% of all trades.
"The crypto OTC market continued its strong growth trajectory in Q1 2025,"
This continued growth suggests a healthy and expanding market.
