We survived one other unhinged yr in crypto. Barely.
Now, earlier than we collectively sign off and contact some grass, here is a wrap-up of 2025 – the largest tales, the core narratives, and the vibe.
The yr of presidential rug pulls
That is the sentence historians are going to underline.
In 2025, politicians found memecoins, and the general public discovered why that is a horrible thought.
It began in January, when Donald Trump launched TRUMP. Days later, Melania Trump adopted with MELANIA.
Each adopted the identical arc:
👉 Explosive launches;
👉 Excessive insider focus;
👉 Large price extraction;
👉 Then brutal collapses that wiped retail.
And it wasn’t simply the US.
In Argentina, President Javier Milei publicly supported LIBRA, which pumped, crashed, and detonated right into a nationwide scandal dubbed Cryptogate – full with lawsuits, investigations, and worldwide embarrassment.
After these cash launched, presidential memecoins grew to become a style:
👉 Sitting presidents launching tokens;
👉 First households monetizing consideration;
👉 Nationalist branding become on-chain liquidity.
And spoiler alert: most of these initiatives rugged.
Supply: @bored2boar
The yr governments stopped preventing Bitcoin
Whereas memecoins had been embarrassing everybody, one thing critical occurred on the identical time.
In March, the US authorities formally created a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, treating BTC as a sovereign asset.
That was an enormous change: Bitcoin went from speculative threat → nationwide balance-sheet consideration.
And others took notes – nations like El Salvador, Bhutan, the UAE, Pakistan, and Singapore all began positioning Bitcoin as a strategic asset.
Supply: @SimplyBitcoinTV
The yr Bitcoin broke $100K
Certain, this sounds unusual given the present market scenario – but it surely was actually a giant yr for Bitcoin.
In 2025, it set a brand new all-time excessive above $126K.
…. Then actuality checked in.
A brutal liquidation cascade adopted, and it worn out billions + reminded everybody (once more) why leverage is a loaded weapon. Costs got here down onerous, volatility spiked, and sentiment flipped.
However Bitcoin did not collapse; it reset.
For a lot of the yr:
👉 BTC stayed structurally robust;
👉 Dips had been violent, however consumers confirmed up;
👉 The “Bitcoin as a sovereign-grade asset” narrative held.
Altcoins, then again? Not so fortunate.
Outdoors some short-lived rotations, most alts by no means reclaimed earlier highs, and liquidity stayed concentrated in BTC.
So, it was a Bitcoin-led yr.
The yr stablecoins grew up
👉 Within the US, the GENIUS Act was handed, and it gave banks and issuers clear guidelines masking reserves, disclosures, and who’s allowed to concern stablecoins.
👉 In Europe, stablecoin guidelines beneath MiCA started taking impact.
👉 In locations like Singapore and Japan, regulators tightened licensing and expanded bank-issued stablecoin pilots.
👉 Throughout rising markets, stablecoins grew to become what they had been all the time imagined to be: a sensible option to entry {dollars}.
The end result was refined however large.
TradFi began collaborating. New regulated stablecoins launched. And stablecoins themselves modified standing from area of interest crypto plumbing to precise monetary infrastructure.
Supply: @WhiteHouse
The yr hacks hit biblical ranges
Crypto safety had its worst yr ever.
$3.4B+ in crypto was stolen in 2025. This contains the Bybit hack, the place $1.5B was stolen (the most important crypto theft on file).
The dominant actors had been state-linked hacking teams, working with persistence, assets, and geopolitical incentives.
All year long, safety incidents expanded past outright thefts to insider compromises, arrests, and cross-border investigations involving a number of regulation enforcement businesses without delay.
The yr establishments mentioned “we’re not leaving”
Regardless of the chaos:
👉 Main firms saved shopping for Bitcoin;
👉 M&A in crypto hit file highs;
👉 TradFi did not flinch.
Mainly, retail could panic. Establishments accumulate.
So… what was the general vibe?
2025 was political, extractive, unstable, generally embarrassing, however undeniably historic.
And if this yr taught us something, it is this:
2026 is both going to be calmer… or one way or the other much more unhinged.
Both approach –
we’ll be right here 🥹🥂
