As the year comes to an end, it feels like a good moment to slow down and look back.
Not to cherry-pick wins.
Not to hide losses.
But to honestly ask:
What kind of year was 2025 for crypto?
It wasn’t boring.
But it wasn’t euphoric either.
It was one of those years that quietly separates tourists from people who actually stick around.
Memes and NFTs: From Main Characters to Background Noise
Let’s start with the obvious.
Memes and NFTs… basically dead.
After dominating the last two cycles, both lost relevance fast.
Liquidity dried up.
Attention moved on.
There were still occasional pumps, of course.
But structurally, the party was over.
Most NFT floors kept bleeding.
Most meme launches turned into:
- bot playgrounds
- insider games
- instant dumps
Retail interest faded, and without retail, these markets simply couldn’t sustain themselves.
Gold and Silver: The Trade We Underplayed
One of the biggest non-crypto stories of 2025 was the strength in gold and silver.
Both surged quietly while crypto chopped sideways.
In hindsight, the trade was obvious:
- inflation anxiety
- macro uncertainty
- risk-off sentiment
We played it a bit.
But not nearly enough.
That’s a lesson.
Macro matters more than ever, even for crypto natives.
Bitcoin: Sideways, Relentless, and Emotionally Draining
Bitcoin spent most of 2025 doing what it does best in tough years.
Nothing.
We ranged almost the entire year:
- highs around the $127k area
- lows near $80k
No clean trend.
No easy trades.
This kind of market is brutal psychologically.
It doesn’t wipe you out fast.
It slowly drains patience.
Ethereum: The Biggest Disappointment of the Year
Let’s be honest.
ETH disappointed almost everyone.
No narrative.
Zero sustained momentum.
Disappointing leadership.
It underperformed expectations, especially compared to Bitcoin and even some niche alt plays.
For many traders, ETH became dead weight rather than an opportunity.
Mega ICOs and Presales: Huge Hype, Rough Reality
2025 had its fair share of massive launches.
Plasma ICO.
PUMP ICO.
WLFI pre-sale.
All of them were hyped.
All of them cooked hard early.
We’re happy that we were able to alert our community to all of these before they happened. Several of our farmers got in and cooked.
And then?
Reality hit.
Most of these tokens have declined significantly since their launch.
This reinforced an old lesson:
Early hype does not equal long-term performance.
If there was one area where crypto stayed exciting, it was crypto airdrops.
2025 was the year of:
Results were extremely polarizing.
Some airdrops were great cooks.
Others left people:
- ineligible
- underwhelmed
- questioning their time investment
Projects like:
rewarded smart, consistent activity.
Meanwhile, lazy farming often ended in disappointment.
The bar clearly went up.
The Summer Alt Season That Ended Brutally
For a brief moment in summer, it felt like everything was a winner.
Small caps pumped.
Mid caps ran.
Risk felt easy again.
And then came 10/10.
That day ended the party fast.
Liquidity vanished.
Confidence collapsed.
Risk appetite disappeared overnight.
Since then, the market has felt different. People lost money, and others have to rebuild entire portfolios.
Quieter.
More cautious.
More fragile.
What 2025 Taught Us
This year wasn’t about big wins.
It was about sharpening skills.
What improved:
We spent the year publishing guides to help you:
And honestly, those skills matter more than any single trade.
What We Could Have Done Better
No recap is complete without self-criticism.
We took some asymmetric bets that didn’t work.
We spread ourselves too thin at times.
The old “spray and pray” farming approach doesn’t work anymore.
2025 taught us:
- focus on fewer protocols
- go harder where conviction is high
- cut losses earlier
Diamond handing alts is still the worst strategy in crypto.
If a coin is bleeding, don’t wait for -80% to teach you discipline.
Macro Will Matter Even More Going Forward
Another big takeaway?
The gold and silver move was a reminder.
Crypto doesn’t exist in isolation anymore.
Next year, we want to:
- track macro trends earlier
- position before narratives go mainstream
- not limit ourselves to crypto-only opportunities
Good trades are good trades, even outside crypto.
Looking Ahead
2025 wasn’t an easy year.
But it was a useful one.
The market punished laziness.
It rewarded structure.
If 2024 was about excitement,
2025 was about survival and skill-building.
That’s not a bad thing.
Because the people who survive years like this usually thrive when markets get easier again.
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Final Thoughts
This 2025 recap isn’t about flexing.
It’s about honesty.
Crypto didn’t hand out easy money this year.
You had to earn it.
And if you’re still here, still learning, still adapting?
That already puts you ahead.
Let’s see what 2026 brings.
If you enjoyed this blog, check out our guide on farming the trend of prediction markets.
As always, don’t forget to claim your bonus below on Bybit. See you next time!
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