2025 January Public Chain Industry Report: Bitcoin's Dominance Strengthens
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2025 January Public Chain Industry Report: Bitcoin's Dominance Strengthens
Key indicators and market dynamics of the public blockchain industry in January 2025.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Stella L (stella@footprint.network)
Data source: Footprint Analytics Public Chain Research Page
In January 2025, the total market capitalization of the crypto market increased by 7.2% to $2.8 trillion, with performance diverging across major blockchain platforms. Bitcoin strengthened its market dominance to 71.3%, influenced by new regulatory policies and breakthroughs in artificial intelligence infrastructure technology.
Market Overview
Bitcoin rose from $94,577 to $102,180, an increase of 8.0%. In contrast, Ethereum performed weakly, falling from $3,353 to $3,292, a decline of 1.8%, with the ETH/BTC ratio reaching a new low since September 2024.
Data source: Bitcoin and Ethereum Price Trends
Several significant policy developments notably impacted the crypto market trajectory. The Trump administration’s executive order on cryptocurrency regulation provided unprecedented clarity for the industry, particularly emphasizing the protection of self-custody rights and supporting stablecoin development. However, Trump’s comments on international trade tariffs toward month-end triggered concerns over global economic growth, cooling market sentiment.
The launch of the tokens $TRUMP and $MELANIA by the Trump family on Solana caused significant volatility in the Memecoin sector. This speculative surge significantly diverted market attention and capital away from other crypto sectors, including blockchain gaming.
DeepSeek’s breakthrough advancements in artificial intelligence also influenced market dynamics. These developments accelerated interest in decentralized AI infrastructure within the crypto ecosystem, leading to gains in AI-related tokens during the month.
Layer 1
In January 2025, the total blockchain market cap 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%) with a 4.0% market share. Other public chains collectively held 7.4% of the market.
Data source: Public Chain Token Prices and Market Caps
Solana maintained strong performance, with its market cap growing 22.0% to $112.3 billion, solidifying its position as the third-largest blockchain by market cap.
Among the top 20 chains by market cap, Stellar stood out, with its market cap surging to $12.6 billion, while Litecoin and Monero rose 23.5% and 21.6% respectively. Cardano’s market cap grew 11.9% to $33.2 billion.
Emerging platforms sustained momentum, with Sui maintaining a stable market cap of $12.4 billion despite intensifying competition. TON, although seeing its market cap drop 14.0% to $12.0 billion, retained its top-ten position. Hedera demonstrated solid growth, with its market cap rising 14.2% to $11.7 billion.
Traditional Layer 1 platforms such as Polkadot, Near, and Aptos faced pressure, with market caps declining between 3.7% and 7.5%.
Bitcoin Layer 2 & Sidechains
In January 2025, Bitcoin Layer 2 and sidechains maintained their growth trend, with total value locked (TVL) reaching $2.6 billion, up 5.2% from December.
Data source: Overall TVL Trend of Bitcoin Ecosystem Chains
Core maintained its market leadership with $660 million in TVL, despite a 9.3% decline from December, still capturing 25.3% of the market share. Bitlayer showed strong growth, with TVL increasing 15.2% to $430 million (16.8% market share), while BSquared performed exceptionally, with TVL surging 19.7% to $400 million (15.3% market share).
Rootstock and BOB ranked fourth and fifth with $250 million and $240 million in TVL respectively, achieving growth rates of 10.8% and 8.9%. Notably, AILayer’s TVL grew 13.2% to $230 million.
Data source: Bitcoin Ecosystem Chains TVL – January 2025
Among mid-sized platforms, Merlin's TVL slightly declined 3.7% to $170 million, while Stacks maintained steady growth, rising 4.0% to $120 million. Smaller platforms showed mixed results, with BounceBit growing 7.3%, while newcomers like SatoshiVM and Naka fell 11.6% and 14.9% respectively.
Ethereum Layer 2
In January 2025, the Ethereum Layer 2 ecosystem saw significant changes, with total value locked (TVL) dropping to $18.3 billion, a 6.7% decrease from December. Performance among market leaders diverged.
Data source: November 2024 Ethereum Layer 2 Overview – Rollups (Bridge-related Metrics)
Arbitrum, despite a sharp 20.4% drop from December, maintained its leading position with $6.8 billion in TVL. Base continued its strong momentum, with TVL growing 14.0% to $4.6 billion, solidifying its second-place ranking. Optimism remained firmly in third with $3.0 billion in TVL, only slightly down 0.5%.
Among top performers, World Chain excelled with a 27.6% TVL increase 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 $900 million and $610 million in TVL.
Some established platforms faced challenges, with Blast’s TVL falling 33.8% to $400 million and Fuel down 47.3% to $110 million. Linea and Scroll also declined by 5.7% and 5.2% respectively.
The competitive dynamics of the ecosystem continue to evolve, with Optimistic Rollups and ZK Rollups showing varying degrees of success. As new entrants join the ecosystem, established platforms are focusing on consolidating their positions through enhanced functionality and user experience.
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