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The Bitwise Crypto Market Review for Q1 2025 revealed that stablecoin transaction volume narrowly surpassed Visa payments, as stablecoin transaction volume rose by over 30%. Meanwhile, the sector’s AUM hit an ATH of more than $218B, with a 13.5% increase quarter-over-quarter. The Bitwise Q1 report revealed that fiat-linked tokens processed over $27.6 trillion in transactions during the year, officially exceeding Visa’s total payment volume and edging out Mastercard by 7.7%. The growth was driven by USDT, USDC, and DAI, with 95% of the volume settled on the Ethereum network. These fiat-backed digital currencies have also become a top 15 holder of U.S. Treasuries, reflecting their increased integration into traditional financial markets. For context, their volumes were almost 10 times less than those of Visa in 2020, and it took just under five years to close this gap and eventually flip Visa. Bitwise reported that stablecoins had outpaced Visa in volume, with the trend clearly showing that TradeFi is getting disrupted. It is also estimated that they will settle roughly $27.6 trillion in total transaction volume in 2024, with most of it running on Ethereum. The CEO of Social Capital, Chamath Palihapitiya, also confirmed that the average weekly stablecoin transaction volume in Q4 of 2024 reached $464 billion against Visa’s $316 billion. Citigroup even projected that the market could reach $3.8 trillion by 2030. However, experts like Dan Smith (Data Expert at Blockworks Research) and Joe Coll (Advisor at Maven 11 Capital) warned that the stablecoin volume might be inflated or manipulated, arguing that it does not reflect real economic activity, and it can not be directly compared with traditional financial systems like Visa. Coll pointed out that professional traders could generate hundreds of millions in volume using very little initial capital. Smith agreed with Coll’s view that volume manipulation for these U.S. dollar-backed tokens could be achieved without requiring large capital, casting doubt on the figures cited by Palihapitiya. Rajiv Patel-O’Connor, the Principal at Framework Ventures, even referred to the metric as “useless.” Last year, Visa’s dashboard also reported that only about 10% of stablecoin transactions were genuine, sharply contrasting with Visa , where each transaction represented a real payment or purchase. Visa announced that it was partnering with Bridge to offer Visa cards linked to fiat-pegged tokens to its Latin American customers. Zach Abrams, CEO of Bridge, said that for consumers to use stablecoins on a large scale, “they will have to be interoperable with existing tools and services that customers and businesses are accustomed to.” Abrams also said interoperability “enabled folks to use and take advantage of these programmable digital currencies wherever they were in the world, but remain wholly connected with the financial tools that folks used.” “We feel like the moment is now to take some of the things that we’ve already been doing on a more experimental, pilot basis and start to expose them to the world as capabilities that we anticipate will really start to become big and meaningful and globally scalable.” – Jack Forestell , Chief Product and Strategy Officer at Visa. Visa and Bridge also made a joint statement claiming that people will be able to use the stablecoin-linked cards at any merchant that accepts Visa. The new card programs will be introduced in Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Chile. The statement also revealed that the product will become available in Europe, Africa, and Asia in the coming months. Cryptopolitan Academy: Coming Soon - A New Way to Earn Passive Income with DeFi in 2025. Learn More

If Bitcoin breaks $98,000, the mainstream CEX cumulative short liquidation intensity will reach 390 million.

An All Time High for bitcoin? Yes, you read that right. But before imagining a sudden explosion of its price, know that it wasn’t in that dimension that the record was reached. In reality, bitcoin crossed a historic threshold in a rarely discussed area: its “Realized Capitalization.” An indicator which, even if it seems less sexy than bitcoin’s price, could signal a major upcoming trend for the digital asset. Bitcoin’s Realized Capitalization recently reached a record level of $882.2 billion, beating its previous All Time High. But what does this indicator really mean? Unlike market capitalization, which is based on the current BTC price multiplied by the total supply, Realized Capitalization takes into account the value of each bitcoin based on the price at which it was last moved. It therefore better reflects the actual investment in the asset. The fact that this metric is hitting highs is proof of investors’ confidence in bitcoin. According to CryptoQuant, the analytics platform that noted this ATH , such a historic accumulation of Realized Cap has historically been followed by a bullish rally. In other words, if investors continue to accumulate without selling, a bitcoin price takeoff could be imminent. It is interesting to note that this data does not account for bitcoins lost or left aside for years, which reinforces the validity of this accumulation. CryptoQuant summarizes it very well: Historically, large accumulations of Realized Capitalization have often been followed by significant increases in bitcoin price. This highlights the importance of this indicator as a precursor signal of a future rise, even if the market remains relatively calm for now. It is clear that bitcoin, though in a stagnation phase, remains in a positive dynamic. Its price fluctuates between 92,000 and 95,000 dollars, but this stability could be the key to its future rise. Far from being a sign of weakness, these sideways movements are often a prelude to a new bullish surge. Indeed, bitcoin’s history shows that after every consolidation phase, the price has often experienced a sharp increase. This accumulation during calm periods is thus seen as a waiting moment before a price explosion. Investment volumes and Realized Capitalization continue to grow, which could very well signal the preparation of a new bullish wave. A few days ago, CryptoQuant observed : Realized Cap continues to rise while prices stagnate. This shows the inflow of capital without the price increasing yet, which is typical before a new surge. This accumulation of BTC by investors thus reinforces the likelihood that the $100,000 resistance will soon be broken. It is therefore reasonable to think that breaking this price zone could open the way to a much larger bull market. Despite price stagnation, confidence in bitcoin remains tangible. Investors are more engaged than ever, and this long-term accumulation approach shows increased market stability. Bitcoin continues to captivate both small and large investors, reinforcing the perception that it is now a safe haven against the traditional volatility of financial markets. The effect of Realized Cap can also be explained by the growing confidence of institutional and individual players in the cryptocurrency, increasingly viewed as a safe asset. The CryptoQuant quote reinforces this analysis: The capital entering the market is proof that investors believe in a solid future for bitcoin. Many investors eagerly await the next rise, convinced that current signals are an excellent omen for bitcoin’s future. Although bitcoin is currently stagnant, the ATH in Realized Capitalization is a strong signal. This massive capital accumulation seems to be laying the groundwork for a future rise. Moreover, according to Standard Chartered, a very optimistic forecast places bitcoin’s price at $200,000 for the year 2025. With such a solid investment base and this symbolic record, all elements are set for bitcoin to reach new heights in the coming months.

Speculation has intensified within the XRP community following recent comments by Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse regarding the company’s strategy in the global payments industry. Garlinghouse ditched the idea of a partnership with SWIFT, the king of international transactions. Instead, he made it clear that Ripple aims to surpass SWIFT. Speaking during an appearance on Fox Business, Garlinghouse underscored Ripple’s vision for the future of international payments. “The market opportunity here is massive,” he remarked . “You have trillions of dollars flowing across borders globally. It’s still dominated by the SWIFT network, and that’s a technology architecture that was developed 50 years ago. There is an opportunity to modernise.” This has created further discussions among traders and investors as it indicates that Ripple seeks to usher in a blockchain-driven overhaul of an industry still reliant on old age. By attempting to penetrate this sector, Ripple aims to reach the hundreds of trillions of dollars market. Meanwhile, XRP, the digital currency associated with the payment protocol of Ripple, trades at $2.27 at present. Today, it peaked at $2.35, and its low price stood at $2.25. With such price fluctuations, trading activity seems to be tapering. Data from CoinMarketCap shows a drop of 36.88% in the trading volume, which has now decreased to $3 billion. This decline follows a wave of excitement triggered by news related to a ProShares XRP ETF. However, optimism surrounding Ripple’s ambitions could breathe new life into XRP price momentum. A recent higher high formation on the XRP chart is being closely watched by technical analysts as a potential signal of a bullish trend in the making, as highlighted in the previous story. Moreover, AI platforms are also modeling the possibility that the XRP could reap the benefits of wider use in global finance. The liquidity-based projection platform Grok3 looked into XRP’s circulating supply of 58 billion tokens. Its analysis suggests that if XRP were to be utilized in processing $20 trillion of the global cross-border payments market, the token’s value could reach approximately $48.89. Also, market research firm DeepSeek has forecast a large tariff increase if banks and financial institutions use Ripple’s infrastructure. If XRP is in a situation where it is being used for utility-driven use in settlement, then it could climb to $34. Of course, the efforts to replace SWIFT are a long road and even years (perhaps decades) is a little too optimistic for full replacement of SWIFT’s established network. Nonetheless, these forecasts highlight the upside on the valuation if Ripple could carve out a meaningful share of the cross-border payments business.

Pi Network (Pi) has been struggling since reaching an all-time high price of $2.9. Our market data shows that Pi has currently declined by 6% in the last 24 hours, extending its weekly and monthly losses to 8% and 24%. From its current price of $0.578, Pi’s overall Return on Investment (ROI) seems to have declined by 33%. However, trading activities keep improving as the daily trading volume records an impressive surge of 44% to $107 million. This has earned it a spot in our top crypto picks for the week, as highlighted in our earlier news brief. Looking at some key technical indicators, we found that the Pi price has been in stagnation for some time, with its Aroon indicator confirming this. As indicated in the chart below, Pi’s Aroon Up Line, which is yellow, is currently trending around 0%, while Aaroon Down Line, which is blue, has fallen to 14.29%. According to analysts’ interpretation, the 0% shows that the asset is yet to reach a new high, while the 14.29% also shows that Pi has not recorded any serious downturn recently. Meanwhile, the Average True Range (ATR) discloses that there has been a decrease in market volatility with a shift towards consolidation. Commenting on its price performance, the COO at Bitget Wallet, Alvin Kan, highlighted that Pi’s previous surge was triggered by anticipation. However, the recent supply of the token and the transition to a long-term project have significantly subdued the price. Pi Network’s initial surge was largely driven by anticipation and years of community mining, but the follow-through has been more muted. As early users began realizing gains, increased token supply met limited exchange listings and a still-developing ecosystem. Without strong utility or broader liquidity, investor demand naturally tapered off. Like many new tokens, Pi is now facing the challenge of transitioning from early hype to long-term value delivery. Above this, one thing that has come to our notice is the inverse relationship between Pi and Bitcoin. With a correlation of -0.11, the asset has consistently moved in the opposite direction whenever the price of Bitcoin surges. Currently, $0.5192 has been said to be its next crucial support level. Breaking below this point could see Pi falling to $0.4. Speaking on the overall growth, Kan disclosed that the mobile mining and referral method helped it in its initial stage to amass a huge user base. However, this certainly creates a pocket of scepticism around its sustainability. While the project clarifies that it doesn’t follow a multi-level structure, concerns persist over the perceived lack of transparency and real-world use cases. To move past the debate, the focus will need to shift toward building credible utility and expanding access. If that happens, sentiment could recover—but trust takes time. As recently discussed in our blog post, Pi could stage a bullish reversal to $3 as rumours of a Binance listing intensify. Fascinatingly, the project has also made good progress in terms of compliance, setting it up for groundbreaking developments, as also indicated in our previous article.