January 2025 Public Chain Industry Report: Bitcoin's Dominance Further Strengthens

In January 2025, the total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency market increased by 7.2% to $2.8 trillion, with major blockchain platforms performing variably. Under the dual influence of new regulatory policies and breakthroughs in artificial intelligence technology, Bitcoin further solidified its market dominance, reaching 71.3%.

Market Overview

The price of Bitcoin rose from $94,577 to $102,180, an increase of 8.0%. In contrast, Ethereum performed relatively weakly, dropping from $3,353 to $3,292, a decrease of 1.8%, with the ETH/BTC ratio hitting a new low since September 2024.

Multiple important policy developments have had a significant impact on the cryptocurrency market trends. The new government's executive order on cryptocurrency regulation provides unprecedented clarity for the industry, particularly emphasizing the protection of self-custody rights and supporting the development of stablecoins. However, remarks at the end of the month regarding international trade tariffs have raised concerns about global economic growth, leading to a cooling of market sentiment.

A certain political family launched a token on Solana that triggered significant fluctuations in the Memecoin sector. This wave of speculation has significantly diverted market attention and funds from other cryptocurrency sectors, including the blockchain gaming field.

DeepSeek's groundbreaking advancements in the field of artificial intelligence have also impacted market dynamics. This progress has accelerated the focus on decentralized AI infrastructure within the crypto ecosystem, and AI-related tokens have seen a rise this month.

Layer 1

In January 2025, the total market value of blockchain rose by 7.2% to $2.8 trillion, with Bitcoin's market dominance further increasing to 71.3%. Ethereum's share continued to decline to 14.0%, while Solana surpassed a certain trading platform chain with a market share of 4.0% (3.4%). Other public chains collectively accounted for 7.4% of the market share.

Solana continues to perform strongly, with a market value growth of 22.0% to $112.3 billion, consolidating its position as the third largest blockchain by market value.

Among the top 20 chains by market capitalization, Stellar stands out with a significant increase in market cap to $12.6 billion, while Litecoin and Monero rose by 23.5% and 21.6%, respectively. Cardano's market cap increased by 11.9% to $33.2 billion.

Emerging platforms maintain their development momentum, with Sui's market capitalization stabilizing at $12.4 billion in an increasingly competitive environment. Although TON's market capitalization dropped by 14.0% to $12 billion, it still maintains its position in the top ten. Hedera shows good growth, with its market capitalization increasing by 14.2% to $11.7 billion.

Traditional Layer 1 platforms such as Polkadot, Near, and Aptos are under pressure, with market capitalization declining between 3.7% and 7.5%.

Bitcoin Layer 2 and Sidechains

In January 2025, Bitcoin Layer 2 and sidechains maintained a growth trend, with the total locked value reaching $2.6 billion, an increase of 5.2% compared to December.

Core maintains its market leadership with a TVL of $660 million, although it has dropped by 9.3% since December, it still holds 25.3% of the market share. Bitlayer has seen strong growth, with TVL increasing by 15.2% to $430 million (market share 16.8%), while BSquared has performed exceptionally well, with TVL skyrocketing by 19.7% to $400 million (market share 15.3%).

Rootstock and BOB rank fourth and fifth with a TVL of $250 million and $240 million, respectively, with growth rates of 10.8% and 8.9%. Notably, AILayer's TVL increased by 13.2% to $230 million.

On medium-sized platforms, MerlinTVL gently fell by 3.7% to $170 million, while Stacks maintained steady growth, rising by 4.0% to $120 million. Small platforms showed mixed performance, with BounceBit increasing by 7.3%, while newcomers like SatoshiVM and Naka dropped by 11.6% and 14.9%, respectively.

Ethereum Layer 2

In January 2025, the Ethereum Layer 2 ecosystem underwent significant changes, with the total locked value dropping to $18.3 billion, a decrease of 6.7% compared to December. The performance of market leaders varied.

Despite a significant drop of 20.4% from December, a certain trading platform maintains its leading position with a TVL of $6.8 billion. Base continues its strong momentum, with a TVL increase of 14.0% to $4.6 billion, solidifying its second position. Optimism remains in third place with a TVL of $3 billion, only slightly down by 0.5%.

Among the top-performing platforms, World Chain excelled with a TVL increase of 27.6% to $350 million, while Paradex surged by 50.3% to $37.2 million. ZK Rollups showed resilience, with Starknet and zkSync Era increasing by 7.4% and 12.2%, respectively, reaching a TVL of $900 million and $610 million.

Some mature platforms are facing challenges, with Blast TVL down 33.8% to $400 million, and Fuel down 47.3% to $110 million. Linea and Scroll also dropped by 5.7% and 5.2%, respectively.

The competitive dynamics of the ecosystem continue to evolve, with Optimistic Rollup and ZK Rollup demonstrating varying degrees of success. As new entrants join the ecosystem, mature platforms focus on consolidating their market position by enhancing functionality and user experience.