January 2025 Public Chain Industry Research Report: Strengthening of Bitcoin's Dominance
Key indicators and market dynamics changes in the public chain industry in January 2025.
Author: Stella L ( stella@footprint.network)
*Data Source: * Footprint Analytics Public Chain Research Page
In January 2025, the total market capitalization of the crypto market grew by 7.2% to $2.8 trillion, with significant performance divergence among major blockchain platforms. Under the dual influence of new regulatory policies and breakthroughs in artificial intelligence infrastructure technology, Bitcoin strengthened its market dominance to 71.3%.
Market Overview
Bitcoin rose from $94,577 to $102,180, an increase of 8.0%. In contrast, Ethereum showed weak performance, dropping from $3,353 to $3,292, a decline of 1.8%, with the ETH/BTC ratio hitting a new low since September 2024.
Several important policy developments significantly impacted the crypto market trends. The cryptocurrency regulatory executive order issued by the Trump administration provided unprecedented clarity for the industry, particularly emphasizing the protection of self-custody rights and supporting the development of stablecoins. However, Trump's remarks on international trade tariffs at the end of the month raised concerns about global economic growth, cooling market sentiment.
The launch of $TRUMP and $MELANIA tokens by the Trump family on Solana triggered significant volatility in the Memecoin sector. This wave of speculation notably diverted market attention and funds from other crypto sectors, including blockchain gaming.
DeepSeek's breakthrough in the field of artificial intelligence also influenced market dynamics. This advancement accelerated the focus on decentralized AI infrastructure within the crypto ecosystem, leading to a rise in AI-related tokens this month.
Layer 1
In January 2025, the total market capitalization of blockchains climbed 7.2% to $2.8 trillion, with Bitcoin's market dominance further increasing to 71.3%. Ethereum's share continued to decline to 14.0%, while Solana surpassed BNB chain (3.4%) with a 4.0% market share. Other public chains collectively held 7.4% of the market share.
Solana continued its strong performance, with a market capitalization growth of 22.0% to $112.3 billion, solidifying its position as the third-largest blockchain by market capitalization.
Among the top 20 chains by market capitalization, Stellar stood out with a significant increase to $12.6 billion, while Litecoin and Monero rose by 23.5% and 21.6%, respectively. Cardano's market capitalization grew by 11.9% to $33.2 billion.
Emerging platforms maintained their growth momentum, with Sui stabilizing its market capitalization at $12.4 billion in a competitive environment. TON saw a market capitalization drop of 14.0% to $12.0 billion but remained in the top ten. Hedera showed good growth, with a market capitalization increase of 14.2% to $11.7 billion.
Traditional Layer 1 platforms such as Polkadot, Near, and Aptos faced pressure, with market capitalization declines ranging from 3.7% to 7.5%.
Bitcoin Layer 2 & Sidechains
In January 2025, Bitcoin Layer 2 and sidechains maintained a growth trend, with total locked value reaching $2.6 billion, a 5.2% increase from December.
Core maintained market leadership with a TVL of $660 million, despite a 9.3% drop from December, holding 25.3% of the market share. Bitlayer showed strong growth, with TVL rising 15.2% to $430 million (market share 16.8%), while BSquared performed excellently, with TVL surging 19.7% to $400 million (market share 15.3%).
Rootstock and BOB ranked fourth and fifth with TVLs of $250 million and $240 million, growing at rates of 10.8% and 8.9%, respectively. Notably, AILayer's TVL increased by 13.2% to $230 million.
Among medium-sized platforms, Merlin saw a moderate decline of 3.7% to $17 million, while Stacks maintained stable growth, rising 4.0% to $12 million. Small platforms showed mixed performance, with BounceBit growing 7.3%, while newcomers like SatoshiVM and Naka dropped 11.6% and 14.9%, respectively.
Ethereum Layer 2
In January 2025, the Ethereum Layer 2 ecosystem underwent significant changes, with total locked value dropping to $18.3 billion, a 6.7% decrease from December. Market leaders showed varied performance.
Arbitrum maintained its leadership position with a TVL of $6.8 billion, despite a significant drop of 20.4% from December. Base continued its strong momentum, with TVL increasing 14.0% to $4.6 billion, solidifying its second position. Optimism held third place with a TVL of $3.0 billion, only slightly down by 0.5%.
Among the best-performing platforms, World Chain excelled with a TVL increase of 27.6% to $350 million, while Paradex surged 50.3% to $37.2 million. ZK Rollups showed resilience, with Starknet and zkSync Era growing by 7.4% and 12.2%, respectively, with TVLs reaching $900 million and $610 million.
Some mature platforms faced challenges, with Blast's TVL dropping 33.8% to $400 million, and Fuel declining 47.3% to $110 million. Linea and Scroll also fell by 5.7% and 5.2%, respectively.
The competitive dynamics of the ecosystem continue to evolve, with Optimistic Rollup and ZK Rollup showing varying degrees of success. As new entrants join the ecosystem, mature platforms focus on consolidating their market positions by enhancing functionality and user experience.
The data in this report is sourced from Footprint Analytics' Public Chain Research Page, which provides an easy-to-use dashboard containing the most critical statistics and metrics in the public chain field, updated in real-time.
This content is for industry research and communication purposes only and does not constitute any investment advice. The market carries risks, and investments should be made cautiously.
