Key Highlights
- In 2025, crypto liquidity favored BTC and ETH, leaving altcoins with short-lived rallies and limited investor attention.
- Regional trends shaped markets: Asia sold in April, Europe shifted funds over summer, and the U.S. sold amid Fed tightening.
- 2026 catalysts include broader ETF/DAT mandates, BTC/ETH rallies creating wealth effects, and retail returns from stocks to crypto.
Crypto markets faced a shift in 2025 as liquidity entered the sector but largely bypassed altcoins. According to Wintermute’s 2025 annual report, capital flowed primarily into Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and select large-cap digital assets.
The firm’s proprietary OTC flow data revealed that ETFs and Digital Asset Trusts (DATs) channeled funds towards the majors, keeping the effect of spillover on the smaller altcoins low. “The overall rotation into the altcoins never happened,” Wintermute asserted, highlighting the role of capital concentration in affecting market results.
Altcoin rallies also became much shorter in 2025. While they used to last about two months in 2024, they now lasted only around three weeks. Popular memecoins, AI tokens, and new trading platforms surged quickly but lost momentum just as fast. As a result, trends in crypto moved much faster, making it harder for smaller projects to keep investors interested.
Bitcoin and Ethereum Lead, But Volatility Persists
In another report, which was released a day ago, the market maker stated that Bitcoin started the week by surging to $94,700 but dipped below $90,000 midweek before stabilizing around $91,000. Ethereum mirrored this pattern, spiking to $3,220 and falling to $3,080. Since late November, BTC has oscillated between $89,000 and $95,000, signaling a tight trading range often preceding significant price movements.
At the time of writing, as per CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin is trading at $95,024.67, after a small daily increase of 0.11% but a larger weekly increase of 3.31%. Ethereum follows suit at $3,292.25, having shown a larger weekly increase of 5.15%.
Market data further shows stablecoins like Tether are holding their peg at $0.9994. XRP trades at $2.12, up 3.04% on the week, while BNB and Solana post more modest weekly gains to illustrate selective investor confidence beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Market Structure Shifts and Regional Dynamics
However, the market structure underwent major shifts. There was more than double the number of option trades as in the previous year. This is because instead of placing money on the direction of price movements, traders turned their focus to generating funds through strategies such as income, hedging, or earning extra profit.
At the same time, many retail investors were more interested in acquiring stocks than crypto, with themes including AI, robotics, and quantum technology being more attractive than crypto. However, since October 10, retail funds have returned to major cryptos, indicating a revival of interest in Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Markets behaved differently across regions. Asia sold during April’s tariffs, Europe moved funds over the summer, and the U.S. led selling by year-end amid Fed tightening. These slow, local shifts show that market trends were driven by regional economic events, not synchronized global movements.
According to Wintermute, the traditional four-year crypto cycle is no longer intact and market outcomes have shifted from timing stories to liquidity consolidation. ETFS and DATs operate as liquidity funnels, influencing capital flow and mind share.
Three major potential catalysts for 2026, according to this report, include ETF and DAT mandate expansion, BTC or ETH rallies and the creation of a “wealth effect,” and retail cryptocurrency re-entry from equity markets.
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