Swiss bank Sygnum sees brighter prospects ahead for altcoins, citing a wave of regulatory improvements that could set the stage for a market rebound in the second quarter of 2025.
According to its latest investment outlook, while the regulatory environment has seen major upgrades, these changes haven’t yet been priced into the market.
Bitcoin has recently pulled ahead, reaching its highest market dominance in four years, as investors moved toward perceived stability. But Sygnum believes that advantage may fade as policy support—including the U.S.’s new digital asset reserve and ongoing stablecoin legislation—accelerates adoption across the crypto space.
Projects delivering real user value are expected to lead the way. Newer protocols like Toncoin, Sui, Aptos, Sonic, and Berachain are all taking different approaches to attract users—some rewarding developers or liquidity providers, others leveraging platforms like Telegram for distribution. Still, meaningful adoption and revenue generation remain challenging for many high-speed chains.
Ethereum’s layer-2 networks are also showing strength. Base saw a spike in activity during the recent memecoin boom and, despite a cooldown, still leads in metrics like transaction volume and total value locked.
Memecoins remained one of the most talked-about sectors in Q1 2025, accounting for over 27% of investor interest globally—second only to AI tokens, according to CoinGecko. While retail traders continue to chase meme-fueled trends, institutional players are moving in a different direction.
Asset manager Bitwise revealed that twelve public companies bought Bitcoin for the first time last quarter, bringing corporate holdings to $57 billion—a sign that serious capital still sees Bitcoin as the cornerstone of the digital asset space.
Middle-East tensions pushed Bitcoin under $100k and drove Ethereum to its lowest levels since May, but the next potential volatility spark is already on the calendar: a cluster of token releases worth nearly $140 million will hit the market between 24–28 June.
Wallets linked to the development team behind the TRUMP memecoin — associated with U.S. President Donald Trump — transferred 3.5 million tokens (worth $32.8 million) to Binance earlier today, raising questions about future sell pressure.
Binance will give traders first access to Humanity Protocol’s native token next week, rolling it out on two of its experimental venues before any spot listing is considered.
Crypto markets were the first to absorb the shock of escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran, as news of targeted airstrikes on nuclear facilities sent ripples across the digital asset landscape.