The key trends reshaping the 2025 crypto landscape

CryptoQuant has released its 2024 survey on crypto market trends, focusing on investor demographics, exchange behavior, and asset preferences. The research outlines several factors that could shape the market this year.

2024 was a year of two extremes for the crypto market that literally told a tale of two halves: unbearable sobering setbacks and the biggest triumphs seen for however long Bitcoin has been around.

Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs were approved at the beginning of the year, but even institutional adoption wasn’t enough to carry the market to the “promised land.” 

It took the victory of a certain Donald J Trump in the November US elections to push the BTC train over the “dream target” of $100,000. And with that, investors managed to nurse their pocket’s wounds as the crypto market traded in the green for weeks.

So, what really took place in 2024? And will the trends that influenced the market last year carry over to 2025?

Here’s a breakdown of CryptoQuant’s 2024 survey. 

The crypto demographic: A younger, experienced investor base

In the crypto market data platform’s survey, 60% of respondents fell within the 25-44 age range; Gen-Zs and millennials undoubtedly have a better understanding of crypto. But what’s particularly striking is that over 62% of participants have been in the industry for more than three years. 

So, young people are not just riding the “next big thing” wave; they know what they’re getting themselves into.

On the gender front, 89% of respondents identified as male and only 11% as female; the space remains predominantly male-dominated.

Retail investors dominate the market

Even though there’s presumably a high level of experience, the majority of these investors are still classified as retail. Most of them reported annual investments under $10,000. 

CryptoQuant analyst Emma Lee notes, “This indicates that while crypto has attracted retail investors, it remains a highly fragmented market. The majority of users are not large-scale institutional players, but rather individual investors who continue to fuel the market’s growth.“

Regionally, Asia led the crypto investment bandwagon, with 40% of users coming from this region, followed by Europe at 29% and North America at 10%.

Analyst David W. Kim explained that retail investors have driven many exchanges to cater to smaller trades. “Traders are prioritizing exchanges with simplified user interfaces, which is one reason platforms like Binance remain so popular,” Kim noted.

Meanwhile, spot crypto trading continues to dominate the crypto landscape, with 76% of users prioritizing it over activities like derivatives trading or staking. Only 28% of participants used trading platforms for their earn products, and this is where exchanges can tap in if the market grows.

Binance: Everywhere but the US

The CryptoQuant survey revealed that Binance is the top choice for crypto enthusiasts. More than half (53%) of respondents were in favor of Binance, and nearly half held the majority of their assets on the exchange. 

The numbers don’t lie: Binance commands a staggering 46.59% of the total market share, based on a cumulative spot volume of $7.23 trillion. However, according to CryptoQuant founder Ki Young-Ju, Coinbase leads the way in North America, with a market share of 45%.

U.S. uses Coinbase. The world uses Binance. https://t.co/LwAPxBXVG9 pic.twitter.com/PuW749PsKL

— Ki Young Ju (@ki_young_ju) January 16, 2025

The survey also revealed that 83% of participants were mindful of exchanges’ security and compliance status. Most traders avoided exchanges that faced regulatory challenges. In terms of compliance, 32% of respondents considered Binance the most regulatory-compliant exchange. 14% of respondents felt Coinbase played by regulatory rules.

Industry expert Maria Alvarez explained, “The heavy concentration around top exchanges like Binance means traders are betting on liquidity. In such a competitive market, smaller exchanges face a difficult challenge in attracting and retaining users.”

The report also highlighted the concentration of market activity around a small number of exchanges. The top five exchanges—Binance, Bybit, Crypto.com, OKEx, and Coinbase—control a staggering 81.24% of the cumulative spot volume. This means that smaller exchanges like Upbit, Huobi Pro, and Bithumb Korea, while still relevant, contribute a fraction of the overall volume.

Interestingly, the survey notes a steep drop-off in trading volume as you move down the list of exchanges. Smaller platforms like Coinone, Korbit, and Binance USA barely register new players and hold barely 0.4% of the total market share. 

Bitcoin and Ethereum market leaders, AI will grow too

When it comes to profit generation, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) remain the market’s eye candy. The occasional surge in the popularity of memecoins or seasonal tokens wasn’t enough to sway investors’ focus. 

Traders overwhelmingly preferred these established cryptocurrencies; there’s no sign they won’t do so this year. Bitcoin and Ethereum will more than likely continue to lead the charge in 2025.

That said, the survey notes an emerging trend: the growing interest in artificial intelligence (AI) blockchain integrations. Currently valued at approximately $15 billion, AI tokens saw a remarkable price uptrend in the final quarter of 2024, experiencing a 222% growth. 

Gracy Chen, CEO of the crypto exchange Bitget, believes the AI token market could hit a market capitalization of $60 billion by 2025. As reported by Cryptopolitan, this trend is still in its early stages, but it has the potential to disrupt financial markets in the coming years, though not as soon as 2025.

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