Looking specifically at the first quarter of 2025, Bitcoin had a stunning return despite its volatility. It increased its stranglehold on the entire cryptocurrency market, despite a historic price crash and severe market turmoil. This was a very large reversal in market capitalization for Bitcoin. Yet notwithstanding these challenges, institutional accumulation and the overall trajectory of U.S. policy bolstered Bitcoin’s overall position — a period of both challenge and consolidation for the No.
Bitcoin’s dominance hit a high of 62.2% during that first quarter, which was the highest level since February 2021. This increase happened despite Bitcoin’s total market capitalization falling by 26.9% from its all-time high in January.
In June, Bitcoin reached a new all-time high of $109,356 at one point before ending the quarter down 11.6%. This drop represents Bitcoin’s second-largest quarterly drop since Q2 of 2022. It reinforces how extreme the cryptocurrency market is capable of being.
The first quarter didn’t witness booming prices, but greater legitimacy of Bitcoin in U.S. policy. While the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve was being launched, Treasury unveiled their own, much more generalized, Digital Asset Stockpile.
Such initiatives are a clue of a mounting acceptance of digital assets as part of governmental financial strategies. Almost all of that growth can be traced to public companies that grew their BTC reserves by nearly 100,000 BTC combined.
This is a 34.7% increase in their aggregate Bitcoin holdings. Firms such as Coinbase and Binance increased their Bitcoin reserves to a staggering 689,059 BTC. That enormous sum is now valued at more than $56.4 billion at today’s prices!
The larger digital asset market was due for a reality check in the first quarter of 2025. The CCData 20 Index (CD20) creates a standard for measuring the performance of the largest 20 digital assets.
After plummeting 23.2% in the first quarter, it still managed to outperform the vast majority of individual digital assets. Although the industry is experiencing a significant downturn, the vibe on the ground during the quarter was electric. Nearly 40 altcoin ETF applications were filed, demonstrating a vibrant demand to diversify cryptocurrency investment products.
Among the CD20 index constituents, XRP was a clear outlier. In this quarter, it was the only one to finish with a positive return, rising 0.4% for the quarter. Yet, this performance only highlights the disparate fates of other digital assets in a market largely dictated by the whims of Bitcoin.
