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.
