Crypto market recovery in Q2 2025: total market capitalization rebounds by 24%, DEX volume hits a new high

In the second quarter of 2025, the crypto market experienced a strong Rebound. The total market capitalization grew by 24% to $3.5 trillion, nearly recovering all losses since the beginning of the year. However, the market landscape behind this recovery has undergone significant changes.

Bitcoin has once again broken through the $100,000 mark, with its dominance rising to over 62%. Altcoins have performed poorly overall, with only a few coins like Ethereum following the upward trend. Although Ethereum has seen significant quarterly gains, it has still not returned to the levels of the beginning of the year.

At the same time, trading behavior is quietly changing. Although the volume of spot trading on centralized exchanges (CEX) has declined for the second consecutive quarter, decentralized exchanges (DEX) have experienced explosive growth. The volume of spot and perpetual contract trading on DEX has reached all-time highs, with PancakeSwap and Hyperliquid standing out particularly.

This trend indicates that cryptocurrency trading is moving towards a more decentralized direction.

Here are the seven highlights of the crypto market in the second quarter of 2025:

1. The total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies rebounded by 24.0%, reaching $3.5 trillion, close to its yearly high.

2. Bitcoin broke through $100,000 to create a new historical high, with market capitalization share rising to 62.1%.

3. The price of Ethereum rose from $1805 to $2488, but is still below the opening price of $3337 at the beginning of the year.

4. Stablecoin issuer Circle successfully went public, with the stock price rising by a maximum of 864.5%, triggering a wave of listings for crypto companies.

5. CEX spot trading volume decreased by 27.7% month-on-month to $3.9 trillion.

6. The DEX spot trading volume increased by 25.3% compared to the previous period, and the DEX/CEX trading volume ratio reached a historical high.

7. DEX perpetual contract volume reached a new high of 898 billion dollars.

Cryptocurrency Total Market Capitalization Strong Rebound

In the second quarter, the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies increased by $663.6 billion, a rise of 24.0%, reaching $3.5 trillion by the end of the quarter. This marks a complete reversal of the 18.6% decline in the first quarter, returning to near the year's high.

However, the average daily volume continues to decline. The average daily volume in the second quarter was 107.8 billion USD, a decrease of 26.2% compared to the previous quarter. This marks the second consecutive quarter of contraction in spot trading activity.

Bitcoin's Dominance Further Strengthened

Bitcoin continued to strengthen in the second quarter, with its market capitalization share increasing by 3 percentage points compared to the previous quarter, reaching 62.1%. Since the beginning of the year, Bitcoin's dominance has risen by 7.6 percentage points.

In contrast, Ethereum's market capitalization share only slightly rebounded by 0.8 percentage points to 8.8%. Among the top seven cryptocurrencies, Ethereum is the only altcoin with an increase in market share. Other large cryptocurrencies and stablecoins have all seen varying degrees of decline in market share.

The decline of small altcoins is even more pronounced. The market share of the "Other" category has dropped by 2.0 percentage points to 13.7%, highlighting the overall weakness of the altcoin market.

Ethereum's quarterly gains are considerable but still lower than at the beginning of the year

The price of Ethereum rose from $1805 to $2488 in the second quarter, an increase of 36.4%. Its performance outperformed mainstream cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Solana, XRP, and BNB. However, the price of Ethereum still has not returned to the level of $3337 at the beginning of 2025.

Despite the price increase, Ethereum's average daily volume dropped from $24.4 billion in the first quarter to $19.5 billion. This may indicate that large transactions are being conducted off-exchange.

In the second quarter, the Gas fees on the Ethereum network continued to decline, averaging 3.5 Gwei per day, down from 6.9 Gwei in the first quarter. Meanwhile, the average daily number of transactions slightly increased to 1.3 million.

Circle's IPO Sparks a Wave of Crypto Company IPOs

As the first major IPO in the crypto field in 2025, Circle's listing on the New York Stock Exchange has caused a huge sensation. This IPO was oversubscribed by 25 times, with the stock price reaching a high of $299, an increase of 864.5% compared to the issue price.

Although Circle is not the first publicly listed crypto company, its success has sparked a frenzy of crypto companies seeking to go public. The market is generally optimistic about the potential IPOs of companies such as Kraken, Gemini, and Grayscale.

CEX volume continues to decline

Despite the overall market rebound, the CEX spot trading volume in the second quarter still decreased by 27.7% quarter-on-quarter to $3.9 trillion.

A leading exchange still dominates the CEX market, maintaining a market share of 37%-39% throughout the quarter. However, its trading volume in April and June both fell below $500 billion, and this trend was not altered even when Bitcoin reached an all-time high in May.

MEXC, HTX, and Bitget are the only exchanges that have achieved a month-on-month growth, with increases of 3.7%, 5.4%, and 3.0% respectively. It is worth noting that MEXC and HTX have now risen to second and third place, respectively.

In comparison, a well-known exchange experienced the largest decline, with its volume plummeting from $560.2 billion in the first quarter to $216.4 billion, a drop of 61.4%. The platform has fallen from second place in the previous two quarters to eighth place.

DEX volume has increased significantly

In stark contrast to CEX, the DEX spot trading volume in the second quarter grew by 25.3% quarter-on-quarter, reaching $876.3 billion. The DEX/CEX trading volume ratio rose from 0.13 in the first quarter to 0.23, setting a new historical high.

PancakeSwap has become the biggest winner, with volume surging from $61.4 billion to $392.6 billion, a month-on-month growth of 539.2%. This is mainly attributed to a certain project alpha testing launched in May, with transactions conducted through PancakeSwap. This has also made BSC the most popular public chain for DEX trading, surpassing Ethereum, Base, and Solana.

At the same time, the DEXs in the Solana ecosystem, such as Orca, Meteora, and Raydium, have all seen declines, with a quarter-on-quarter decrease of 40.5%, 56.8%, and 73.4%, respectively. This reflects the shift in market focus from Solana and meme coins in the second quarter.

DEX perpetual contract volume hits a new high

In the second quarter, the volume of DEX perpetual contract trading reached 898 billion dollars, setting a new record. Hyperliquid continues to dominate this sector, with a market share of 72.7% and a trading volume of 653.2 billion dollars, ranking eighth among all exchanges.

Among the top ten perpetual DEXs, only Hyperliquid, Aster(, the original APX Finance), RabbitX, and EdgeX achieved volume growth. Aster stood out the most, with its volume doubling month-on-month after launching the Pro mode.

The once leading perpetual DEX, dYdX, continues to weaken, with an average monthly volume of only $5.3 billion in the second quarter, halving compared to January 2025.

Overall, the crypto market is showing signs of recovery in the second quarter of 2025, but the trading pattern is undergoing significant changes. The rise of DEX indicates that decentralized trading may become the mainstream trend in the future.