In January 2025, the total market capitalization of the crypto market grew by 7.2% to $2.8 trillion, with the performance of major blockchain platforms diverging. Under the dual impact of new regulatory policies and breakthroughs in artificial intelligence infrastructure technology, Bitcoin strengthened its market dominance to 71.3%.

Source: Footprint Analytics Public Chain Research Page

Market Overview

Bitcoin rose from $94,577 to $102,180, an increase of 8.0%. Ethereum, on the other hand, performed weakly, falling from $3,353 to $3,292, a decline of 1.8%, and the ETH/BTC ratio hit a new low since September 2024.

Several important policy developments have significantly impacted the crypto market trend. The crypto regulatory executive order issued by the Trump administration provided the industry with unprecedented clear guidance, particularly emphasizing the protection of self-custody rights and supporting the development of stablecoins. However, Trump's remarks on international trade tariffs at the end of the month raised concerns about global economic growth, and market sentiment cooled.

The Trump family's launch of $TRUMP and $MELANIA tokens on Solana triggered a violent fluctuation in the Memecoin sector. This speculative frenzy significantly diverted market attention and funds from other crypto sectors, including the blockchain gaming sector.

The breakthrough progress of DeepSeek in the field of artificial intelligence also affected market dynamics. This progress accelerated the focus on decentralized AI infrastructure within the crypto ecosystem, and AI-related tokens saw an increase this month.

Layer 1

In January 2025, the total market capitalization of blockchains rose 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 BNB Chain (3.4%) again with a 4.0% market share. Other public chains collectively accounted for 7.4% of the market share.

Solana continued its strong performance, with its market capitalization growing 22.0% to $112.3 billion, consolidating its position as the third-largest blockchain by market value.

Among the top 20 chains by market capitalization, Stellar stood out with a significant increase in market value to $12.6 billion, while Litecoin and Monero rose 23.5% and 21.6% respectively. Cardano's market capitalization grew 11.9% to $33.2 billion.

Emerging platforms maintained their development momentum, with Sui stabilizing its market capitalization at $12.4 billion in an increasingly competitive environment. TON, although its market capitalization fell 14.0% to $12.0 billion, still maintained its position in the top ten. Hedera exhibited good growth, with its market capitalization increasing 14.2% to $11.7 billion.

Traditional Layer 1 platforms such as Polkadot, Near, and Aptos faced pressure, with their market capitalizations declining between 3.7% and 7.5%.

Bitcoin Layer 2 & Sidechains

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

Core maintained its market leadership with a TVL of $660 million, although it declined 9.3% compared to December, accounting for 25.3% of the market share. Bitlayer saw strong growth, with its TVL increasing 15.2% to $430 million (16.8% market share), while BSquared performed well, with its TVL surging 19.7% to $400 million (15.3% market share).

Rootstock and BOB ranked fourth and fifth with TVLs of $250 million and $240 million, respectively, growing 10.8% and 8.9%. It's worth noting that AILayer's TVL grew 13.2% to $230 million.

Among mid-sized platforms, Merlin's TVL moderately declined 3.7% to $170 million, while Stacks maintained stable growth, increasing 4.0% to $120 million. The performance of small platforms was mixed, with BounceBit growing 7.3%, while newcomers like SatoshiVM and Naka declined 11.6% and 14.9%, respectively.

Ethereum Layer2

In January 2025, the Ethereum Layer 2 ecosystem underwent significant changes, with the total locked value (TVL) declining to $18.3 billion, a 6.7% decrease compared to December. The performance of market leaders diverged.

Arbitrum, despite a significant 20.4% drop in December, maintained its leading position with a TVL of $6.8 billion. Optimism remained in third place with a TVL of $3 billion, declining only slightly by 0.5%. Base continued its strong momentum, with a 14.0% growth in TVL to $4.6 billion, solidifying its second position.

Among the best-performing platforms, World Chain saw a 27.6% increase in TVL to $350 million, while Paradex surged 50.3% to $37.2 million. ZK Rollups demonstrated resilience, with Starknet and zkSync Era growing 7.4% and 12.2% respectively, reaching TVLs of $900 million and $610 million.

Some mature platforms faced challenges, with Blast TVL declining 33.8% to $400 million and Fuel dropping 47.3% to $110 million. Linea and Scroll also declined by 5.7% and 5.2%, respectively.

The competitive dynamics within the ecosystem continue to evolve, with Optimistic Rollup and ZK Rollup exhibiting varying degrees of success. As new entrants join the ecosystem, mature platforms are focusing on enhancing functionality and user experience to solidify their market positions.