The rebound was led by institutional cryptocurrency trading, which saw volumes rocket by 141% YoY in Q1 2025. The stablecoin sector became the most productive sector during this time. That rapid growth happened despite the fact that Bitcoin prices were crashing at the very same time, registering their largest quarterly drop since 2022.
The stablecoin sector’s total market capitalization recently crossed $230 billion. That’s a whopping 56% jump over last year! In a testimony to the strong activity in the crypto market, Finery Markets just announced a record trading volume of $1.8 billion.
Bitcoin prices have retreated back below $75,000 as of March, back to levels before the election. Even taking into account this price correction, crypto-to-stablecoin transactions quintupled from the first quarter of 2024.
This boom in stablecoin use represents a significant shift towards institutional investor demand.
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 top five altcoins, including SOL, LTC, XRP, TRX, and ADA, accounted for just 4.7% of all trades.
Earlier this year, the European Union adopted the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation. As a consequence, USDT got delisted, creating space for USDC to shine. USDC had grown rapidly and was 32x YoY at that point.
The crypto OTC market continued its strong growth trajectory in Q1 2025.
