The cryptocurrency market witnessed many major events in 2025. These included both pivotal events and those that brought about decline.
US President Donald Trump’s pro-crypto policies, Bitcoin whale sales, Ripple (XRP) and the SEC ending their years-long legal battle, memecoin incidents, Bybit’s record-breaking $1.4 billion Ethereum (ETH) hack, a historic leverage reduction event, and the bursting of the DAT bubble were among the most significant events of the year.
1) Ulbricht’s Pardon!
Just one day after taking office in January, Trump fulfilled one of his election promises by granting Ross Ulbricht a full and unconditional pardon.
2) Strategic Bitcoin Reserve!
Trump took another significant step regarding a Bitcoin reserve, a campaign promise, and on March 6th signed a presidential order to establish a US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, to be created from an estimated 200,000 BTC held by the federal government and seized as a result of criminal or civil cases.
Trump also instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to develop budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional bitcoin, provided it does not impose additional costs on American taxpayers.
3) GENIUS Act Voting Held!
On the legislative front, the U.S. House of Representatives advanced the GENIUS Act, a stablecoin regulation bill, and the CLARITY Act, a virtual asset market structure bill, in July, and the GENIUS Act went into effect.
4) IRS Rules Abolished!
In March, the Senate repealed, by a vote of 70 to 28, an IRS rule passed towards the end of the Biden administration that would have forced DeFi front-end operators to collect user data like traditional brokerage firms, and sent the bill to Trump, who signed it into law in April.
5) SEC Signs Crypto ETF Listing Standards!
On the regulatory front, the SEC relaxed listing standards for cryptocurrency ETFs, accelerating the launch of spot altcoin ETFs like Solana (SOL) and XRP. This decision eliminated the need for lengthy 19b-4 reviews for qualified funds, reduced the approval process from 240 days to 75 days, and sped up the process for dozens of pending crypto ETFs.
6) SEC – Ripple Case Concluded!
The SEC and Ripple reached an agreement in August to drop their appeals in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, thus ending years of legal battle.
7) Satoshi Whales Have Awakened!
The market experienced significant internal movements. Ultra-long-term investors who had held Bitcoin since the Satoshi era engaged in mass selling, injecting billions of dollars worth of supply into the market.
8) Bybit Hacked!
In February, Bybit experienced the largest exchange attack to date, with over $1.4 billion worth of Ethereum (ETH) stolen.
This hack, the largest cryptocurrency exchange attack in dollar terms, overshadowed past breaches at Coincheck, Mt. Gox, and FTX.
9) The October Crash Happened!
In October, a major delegitimization event occurred, leading to the liquidation of positions worth more than $20 billion.
Binance paid users $283 million in compensation after three Binance Earn assets (USDe, BNSOL, and WBETH) experienced sharp declines in value during the market crash.
10) The DAT Craze Is Over!
In 2025, many companies followed a path similar to Strategy’s Bitcoin strategy. At that point, numerous companies, large and small, invested in various altcoins, primarily Bitcoin and Ethereum, to varying degrees. However, this craze died down as quickly as it began.
*This is not investment advice.
