Key Events in the 2025 Crypto Secondary Market (Chronological)
January: Trump’s Policies & Institutional Inflows
- Jan 20: Trump inaugurated; granted full pardon to Ross Ulbricht (founder of Silk Road); signed executive orders banning U.S. CBDC and establishing a Presidential Digital Asset Task Force
- Bitcoin hit an all-time high of $108,800; Bitcoin ETFs saw $5.25B in net inflows for the month
February: Largest Exchange Hack in History
- Bybit’s cold wallets breached via social engineering; $1.4B worth of ETH stolen—the largest exchange security incident in crypto history
April: Macro Shock & Tariff Panic
- Global tariff conflicts escalated; Bitcoin plunged sharply; correlation between crypto, U.S. equities, and gold surged
May: Ethereum Pectra Upgrade
- Raised staking cap to 2,048 ETH; optimized deposit confirmations; enabled new wallet standard EIP‑7702
July: U.S. Regulatory Milestones (Crypto Week)
- July 18: Trump signed the GENIUS Act (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act)—first federal regulation for stablecoins, defining reserve and audit rules
- Passed the CLARITY Act (Digital Asset Market Clarity Act), classifying digital assets as commodities/securities; banned retail CBDCs
August–September: Institutional Surge & Hong Kong Acceleration
- Ethereum spot ETFs recorded $12.1B in monthly inflows; BlackRock held over 3M ETH
- Hong Kong’s stablecoin regulations took effect, mandating 100% fiat reserves + real‑time audits; HashKey listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
October: All‑Time High + Epic Liquidation (Oct 11 Event)
- Oct 6: Bitcoin peaked at $126,000 (new all‑time high)
- Oct 11: Market crashed; BTC/ETH fell over 10% in a single day; $19B+ in leveraged positions liquidated across the network
- Binance compensated $283M for depegs of USDe, BNSOL, and WBETH
November–December: Bear Market Confirmation + Liquidity Crunch
- Bitcoin collapsed from $126,000 to $32,500 (62% drop); total crypto market cap shrank from $3.2T to $1.1T
- Hong Kong allowed licensed platforms to connect to global order books, boosting liquidity by 2–3x
- Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) discount widened to ‑40%; massive institutional outflows ensued
WEB3 Crypto Fund No.1 Report from February 2025 to January 2026
