Crypto Struggled In 2025 Despite Positive Fundamentals

Analysts and investors are questioning why crypto isn’t in a bull market, given the amount of positive drivers that have taken place this year.

“At some point, we need to admit that something is structurally broken in the crypto market,” CNBC crypto contributor Ran Neuner said on Tuesday.

He stated that multiple favorable factors should be contributing to the performance of crypto markets, including increased liquidity, a pro-crypto US government, various exchange-traded fund launches, major institutional and crypto treasury company investments, and strong performance in traditional markets such as gold, silver and major stock indexes.

However, crypto markets are on track to end the year lower than when they began, with the total market capitalization falling more than 32% from its all-time high of $4.4 trillion in early October and almost 13% down from Jan. 1. 

Two possible outcomes for crypto

Neuner said there were two possible outcomes for crypto: discovery of “what’s actually broken and who is selling” or the “mother of all catch-up trades because that’s how markets work.” 

Economist Adam Kobeissi said that “one day, we will look back at the last 2 months of seemingly daily mass crypto liquidations and what’s happening will be crystal clear:”

Related: Most crypto sectors lagged Bitcoin over past 3 months: Glassnode

Analyst “PlanB” called it an “epic battle until sellers are out of ammo,” explaining that selling pressure is still coming from “OGs traumatized by 2021,” technical investors looking at relative strength index, and those who believe in the four-year cycle and that a bear market is due. 

Crypto winter is already here

Meanwhile, some analysts are convinced that the bear market is already underway. 

“Bitcoin entered a bear market in late October 2025, becoming the first major risk asset to price in a slowing economy,” 10x Research CEO Markus Thielen told Cointelegraph. 

Things aren’t that bad, really 

Despite the poor performance of spot markets, the industry’s fundamentals remain solid. 

“While prices may have fallen short of expectations, this year delivered more structural progress than any in crypto’s history,” Erik Lowe, head of content at blockchain venture firm Pantera, said in a report on Tuesday.

Like Neuner, he listed several milestone achievements for the industry this year, including a shift in staff and stance at US financial regulators, the establishment of a US strategic Bitcoin reserve and digital asset stockpile, and increases in stablecoin supplies and onchain value of tokenized real-world assets. 

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