Bitcoin Dominance Reaches 62.2% Amid Q1 Market Adjustments
The first quarter of 2025 highlighted significant shifts in the digital assets market, driven by macroeconomic challenges:
- Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $109,356 but ended the quarter down 11.6%, marking its second-largest quarterly decline since Q2 2022.
- Altcoins suffered more, with declines of 55.2% for the CoinDesk Memecoin Index and 46.4% for the CoinDesk 80.
- Bitcoin dominance rose to 62.2%, the highest since February 2021, indicating a shift toward larger-cap assets favored by institutions.
- The CoinDesk 20 Index fell 23.2% but outperformed most major assets; XRP was the only constituent with positive returns, rising 0.4%.
- Ether declined 45.3%, with net outflows of $228 million from U.S. spot ETH ETFs compared to over $1 billion inflows for bitcoin ETFs.
- Public companies increased their bitcoin holdings by nearly 100,000 BTC, totaling 689,059 BTC valued at over $56.4 billion.
- Nearly 40 spot ETF applications for altcoins were submitted in Q1, with Solana and XRP leading the submissions.
Overall, the quarter underscored that digital assets are influenced by evolving macro conditions, regulatory changes, and institutional preferences, emphasizing deeper liquidity and stronger narratives.