A Look Back at Key Moments in 2025: The Ice and Fire of Cryptocurrency

2025 will be a year of transformation for the crypto market, amidst both triumphs and tribulations.

Throughout the year, we witnessed the emotional euphoria ignited by Bitcoin's new highs, and also experienced the darkest moments of reckoning under the combined impact of macroeconomic shocks and liquidity shortages. The policy supercycle initiated by Trump shifted crypto regulation from hardline enforcement to encouraging innovation, opening the floodgates for large-scale entry by traditional financial giants. The industry is no longer just telling stories, but is gradually moving towards real-world applications, with the outline of everything on the blockchain becoming clearer. The accelerated opening of ETFs, DAT, and IPO channels has led to a massive influx of liquidity from Wall Street, reshaping the capital structure and pricing logic of crypto.

This year marks both the crypto industry's maturation and its emergence into the mainstream. This PANews article outlines the timeline for 2025, reviewing the pivotal moments that transformed the crypto industry.

January

16th Anniversary of the Birth of the Bitcoin Genesis Block

FTX's restructuring plan takes effect.

Trump and his wife launched Memecoin in succession.

Donald Trump was officially sworn in as the 47th President of the United States.

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler officially steps down

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February

Argentine President Javier Milei is accused of fraud in connection with the LIBRA token scandal.

Bybit hacked, $1.44 billion worth of funds withdrawn

Crypto treasury gains popularity, cryptocurrency stocks become hot commodities.

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The terrifying night of the $1.4 billion ETH theft: What impact will the Bybit security incident have on Ethereum and the crypto industry?

Libra becomes a hunting game: Nearly 30% of large holders bought at high prices, and over 70,000 addresses were compromised.

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MicroStrategy has changed its name to "Strategy," and its Bitcoin holdings nearly doubled in Q4, indicating its intention to offer "smart leverage" for Bitcoin.

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March

Bitcoin included in the US strategic reserve

The U.S. Treasury Department has officially lifted sanctions against Tornado Cash.

CZ's MEME experiment

Binance receives $2 billion investment from Abu Dhabi MGX

Hyperliquid 3.12 Whale Incident: Top Exchanges Collude to Target It

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Binance partners with UAE royal family: Sovereign wealth fund MGX invests $2 billion in crypto, is Binance "making friends" with a low valuation?

Mubarak sparked a Middle East meme frenzy on BNB Chain, with CZ and He Yi adding to the chain's emotional momentum.

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BlackRock CEO's Annual Letter to Investors: Bitcoin May Challenge the Dollar's Global Status; Tokenization is the Future Financial Highway

Trump's promised strategic Bitcoin reserve is here! However, the confiscation of Bitcoin storage fell short of expectations, or a different approach may be used to acquire more Bitcoin without increasing the burden on taxpayers.

April

The US government announced retaliatory tariffs, causing a global stock market crash and Bitcoin falling below $75,000.

Spot gold breaks through the $3,200 mark for the first time.

Binance Alpha Points Game

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Kyrgyzstan is accelerating its national blockchain strategy by launching a gold-backed stablecoin and inviting CZ (China's chief economist) to serve as a Web3 advisor.

May

BTC breaks $110,000

DEX Cetus suffers hacker attack, losses exceed $200 million

Pump.fun is attacked by a vampire.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has officially dropped its lawsuit against Binance and Changpeng Zhao.

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Pump.fun's dominance is being challenged by new platforms; MEME coin Glonk launches a traffic war, with its founder joining the fray.

CZ's amnesty goes far beyond a presidential decree.

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Trump Media Group follows MicroStrategy's lead by launching a $2.5 billion Bitcoin vault plan, with the presidential family playing with financial instruments.

June

Satoshi Nakamoto's net worth reached $116.7 billion, surpassing Bill Gates.

Lee Jae-myung elected President of South Korea

Circle, dubbed the "first stablecoin stock," saw its share price rise by 6.13% on its first day of trading.

Israel launched airstrikes against Iran, and a ceasefire agreement was reached 12 days later.

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The crypto market becomes a new battleground in the covert war between Israel and Iran, casting a shadow over the crypto market under theocratic regimes.

Another "crypto president"? Lee Jae-myung's high-stakes gamble on South Korea's new crypto policies ignites market imagination.

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July

Trump signs "Big and Beautiful" tax and spending bill

Trump officially signed the GENIUS Act, a bill related to stablecoins.

Ethereum genesis block 10th anniversary

Ethereum's DAT company is coming, and ETH's market capitalization has risen to 28th in the global asset market capitalization rankings.

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PANews released the "2025 Global Stablecoin Industry Development Report": USD stablecoins account for 99% of the market, and USDC is expected to surpass USDT by 2030.

US banks jointly resist the Genius Act; stablecoin shockwaves shake traditional giants.

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August

Hong Kong's Stablecoin Bill Officially Takes Effect

Bitcoin hit $124,000, surpassing Google in market capitalization and rising to fifth place in global asset value.

The Shanghai Composite Index climbed above 3800 points, setting a new high in nearly 10 years.

RWA Gold Rush

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September

The total market capitalization of stablecoins has surpassed $290 billion.

SEC Approves General Listing Standards for ETFs

BNB's market capitalization surpassed $140 billion, overtaking Intel to rank 155th in global asset rankings.

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Circle and Stripe have entered the fray, launching a full-scale battle in the stablecoin public blockchain arena.

BNB's market capitalization has surpassed that of MicroStrategy, and with the backing of national reserves and Nasdaq support, it is becoming a global strategic asset alongside BTC and ETH.

October

The US government has officially shut down.

Musk becomes the first person in history to surpass the $500 billion net worth mark.

The "October 11th crash" resulted in over $19 billion in margin calls in a single day.

The US has indicted Chen Zhi of Prince Group and is seeking the seizure of over 127,000 bitcoins, bringing the US government's total bitcoin holdings to 324,000.

Spot gold breaks through $4,200

The privacy sector is experiencing a "second spring," with ZEC's market capitalization surpassing $6 billion.

Binance Life sparks a Chinese meme craze

Nvidia's market capitalization surpasses $5 trillion

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Privacy narrative makes a strong comeback: Zcash surges over 220%, Ethereum Foundation upgrades its "privacy strategy".

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November

The UK's largest Bitcoin money laundering case has been adjudicated, with Qian Zhimin sentenced to 11 years and 8 months in prison and 61,000 bitcoins confiscated.

The longest government shutdown in U.S. history has ended.

Bitcoin falls below $81,000, causing a sharp drop across the entire cryptocurrency market.

Coinbase's x402 protocol gains popularity

Altcoin ETFs are being listed one after another.

Hyperliquid, Aster, Lighter, and edgeX are among the games driving the Perp DEX battle.

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The world's most profitable company has changed hands: an 11-person crypto team generates $100 million in revenue per person.

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December

Micro-strategies face the risk of being removed from the MSCI index and suffer from FUD.

Ethereum activates Fusaka upgrade

The Federal Reserve led the way in cutting interest rates, while Japan's interest rate hike has already occurred.

Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon sentenced to 15 years in prison in the US

Predicting exponential market expansion

SEC announces introduction of crypto innovation exemption policy

HashKey officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The nominee for Federal Reserve Chair is about to be decided.

China tightens cryptocurrency regulations again, affecting mining, stablecoins, and RWA, among others.

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"A cornered beast's struggle": Crypto Treasury is losing its ability to buy at the bottom.

Ethereum activates Fusaka upgrade, L2 gas fees drop by another 60%.

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The MSCI delisting saga has triggered short-selling alarms, with Strategy becoming a "pressure valve" for the crypto market.

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