Q3 2025: Bitcoin Surged to ATH But With ‘Notable Laggard’ as Ethereum Led the Quarter

Core Insights - There is a renewed interest in Ethereum (ETH), driven by strong net inflows into US Spot ETH exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and institutional buying pressure, leading to a 66.6% rise in ETH price, reaching nearly $5,000 [1][5] - Altcoins significantly outperformed Bitcoin (BTC) in Q3, with ETH's market share increasing to 12.5% [2][4] - Bitcoin dominance decreased to 56.9%, indicating a shift towards ETH and other large-cap altcoins [3] Market Performance - The total cryptocurrency market capitalization rose by 16.4% to $563.6 billion, marking the highest level since late 2021 [4] - The average daily trading volume increased by nearly 44% from Q2 to $155 billion, reflecting higher market participation [3] - The DeFi sector's Total Value Locked (TVL) surged by 40.2% from $115 billion to $161 billion, driven by ETH's appreciation [12][13] Institutional Activity - US Spot ETH ETFs recorded $9.6 billion in net inflows, surpassing BTC ETFs for the first time, with total assets under management (AUM) reaching $28.6 billion, a 177.4% increase quarter-on-quarter [9] - Crypto digital asset treasury companies (DATCos) spent at least $22.6 billion on new crypto acquisitions in Q3, the largest quarterly amount to date [9][10] Altcoin Performance - Major altcoins like BNB, SOL, and XRP also saw significant gains, with BNB increasing by 53.6%, SOL by 34.7%, and XRP by 27% [5] - The DeFi sector's market cap reached a peak of $181 billion in late September, following a price jump of newly launched tokens [12] Exchange Activity - Top centralized exchanges (CEXes) recorded a spot trading volume of $5.1 trillion in Q3, a nearly 32% increase from Q2 [16] - The trading volume of the top 10 perpetual decentralized exchanges (DEXes) grew by 87% from $964.5 billion in Q2 to $1.81 trillion in Q3 [17]