Review of the Blockchain Industry in January 2025: Bitcoin's Dominance Continues to Strengthen

In January 2025, the total market value of the crypto market grew by 7.2%, reaching $2.8 trillion. Under the dual influence of new regulatory policies and breakthroughs in artificial intelligence technology, major Blockchain platforms showed a divergence in performance, with Bitcoin further consolidating its market dominance, increasing its share to 71.3%.

Market Overview

The price of Bitcoin rose from $94,577 to $102,180, an increase of 8.0%. In contrast, Ethereum performed poorly, dropping from $3,353 to $3,292, a decline of 1.8%, with the ETH/BTC ratio hitting a nearly four-month low.

Several important policies have significantly impacted the cryptocurrency market. The new government's executive order on cryptocurrency regulation provides unprecedented clarity for the industry, particularly emphasizing the protection of self-custody rights and supporting the development of stablecoins. However, comments at the end of the month regarding international trade tariffs have raised concerns about global economic growth, leading to a cooling of market sentiment.

The launch of a new type of token on Solana has triggered significant fluctuations in the Memecoin sector, and this wave of speculation has diverted attention and funds from other crypto sectors, including the Blockchain gaming field.

Breakthrough advancements in the field of artificial intelligence have also impacted market dynamics. This progress has accelerated the focus on decentralized AI infrastructure within the crypto ecosystem, and AI-related tokens have seen an increase this month.

Layer 1 Public Chain Performance

The total market value of Blockchain rose by 7.2% to $2.8 trillion, and Bitcoin's market dominance further increased to 71.3%. Ethereum's share continued to decline to 14.0%, while Solana surpassed a well-known trading platform's public chain (3.4%) with a market share of 4.0%. Other public chains collectively accounted for 7.4% of the market share.

Solana continues to perform strongly, with a market cap increase of 22.0% to $112.3 billion, solidifying its position as the third largest blockchain by market cap.

Among the top 20 chains by market capitalization, Stellar performed outstandingly, with its market cap rising significantly to $12.6 billion, while Litecoin and Monero increased by 23.5% and 21.6% respectively. Cardano's market cap grew by 11.9% to $33.2 billion.

Emerging platforms maintain growth momentum, with Sui's market capitalization stabilizing at $12.4 billion in a competitive environment. Although TON's market capitalization dropped by 14.0% to $12 billion, it still maintains its position in the top ten. Hedera has shown good growth, with its market capitalization increasing by 14.2% to $11.7 billion.

Traditional Layer 1 platforms such as Polkadot, Near, and Aptos are under pressure, with market capitalization declines ranging from 3.7% to 7.5%.

Bitcoin Layer 2 and Sidechain Development

Bitcoin Layer 2 and sidechains maintain a growth trend, with total locked value reaching 2.6 billion USD, an increase of 5.2% compared to last month.

Core maintains its market leadership with a TVL of $660 million, despite a 9.3% drop from last month, still accounting for 25.3% of the market share. Bitlayer shows strong growth, with TVL rising by 15.2% to $430 million (market share 16.8%), while BSquared performs excellently, with TVL soaring by 19.7% to $400 million (market share 15.3%).

Rootstock and BOB rank fourth and fifth with a TVL of $250 million and $240 million, respectively, with growth rates of 10.8% and 8.9%. Notably, AILayer's TVL grew by 13.2% to $230 million.

On medium-sized platforms, MerlinTVL gently declined by 3.7% to $170 million, while Stacks maintained steady growth, rising by 4.0% to $120 million. Small platforms performed inconsistently, with BounceBit increasing by 7.3%, while newcomers like SatoshiVM and Naka fell by 11.6% and 14.9%, respectively.

Ethereum Layer 2 Ecosystem Changes

The Ethereum Layer 2 ecosystem has seen significant changes, with the total locked value dropping to $18.3 billion, a decrease of 6.7% compared to last month. The performance of market leaders is showing divergence.

Although a well-known Layer 2 platform has seen a significant drop of 20.4% compared to last month, it maintains its leading position with a TVL of $6.8 billion. Base continues its strong momentum, with a TVL increase of 14.0% to $4.6 billion, solidifying its second position. Optimism remains in third place with a TVL of $3 billion, only slightly down by 0.5%.

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

Some mature platforms are facing challenges, with Blast TVL dropping by 33.8% to $400 million and Fuel falling by 47.3% to $110 million. Linea and Scroll also decreased by 5.7% and 5.2% respectively.

The competitive dynamics of the ecosystem continue to evolve, with Optimistic Rollups and ZK Rollups demonstrating varying degrees of success. As new entrants join the ecosystem, mature platforms focus on consolidating their market positions by enhancing functionality and user experience.