Crypto Market Cap Soars to $4 Trillion in Q3 2025, Led by Ethereum and BNB Rally

The cryptocurrency market recorded its strongest performance since late 2021 in the third quarter of 2025, with total market capitalization surging 16.4% to $4 trillion, adding $563.6 billion, according to CoinGecko's Q3 2025 Crypto Industry Report. This marked the third consecutive quarter of growth, driven by a surge in liquidity, renewed institutional inflows, and a sharp rebound in trading activity.

Average daily trading volume jumped 43.8% to $155 billion, reversing declines seen in earlier quarters. The report described the period as the market's second leg of recovery, highlighting increased appetite for decentralized services.

Ethereum (ETH) emerged as a standout performer, rising 68.5% to close at $4,215 after reaching an all-time high of $4,946 in August. Trading volume nearly doubled from $19.5 billion daily in Q2 to $33.4 billion in Q3, fueled by massive inflows into US spot ETH ETFs.

BNB also hit a new all-time high of $1,048 during the quarter, ending at $1,030—a 57.3% increase—and later broke $1,300 in October. This growth was supported by ecosystem developments, including the launch of perpetual DEX Aster and PancakeSwap's integration into Binance's Alpha program.

Stablecoins saw an 18.3% increase in market capitalization to a record $287.6 billion. Ethena's USDe was the biggest percentage gainer, expanding 177.8% in market cap to $9.4 billion, while Tether's USDT added $17 billion but lost market share to rivals.

DeFi experienced a strong comeback, with total value locked (TVL) soaring 40.2% to $161 billion by end-September. The DeFi market cap climbed to $133 billion, and its share of the total crypto market grew from 3.3% to 4% quarter-over-quarter.

Centralized exchanges (CEXs) reported a 31.6% rise in quarterly spot volumes to $5.1 trillion, led by Binance, Bybit, and Upbit. Binance increased its volume by 40.2%, maintaining a 40% market share. Perpetual decentralized exchanges (Perp DEXes) saw volumes surge 87% to $1.8 trillion, with Hyperliquid leading but facing competition from newcomers like Aster.