Looking back to 2025: 18 major milestones in the crypto industry

# Looking Back at 2025: Milestones and Turbulence in the Crypto Industry

By Deng Tong  

Jinse Finance

As 2025 draws to a close, Jinse Finance is launching the "Looking Back at 2025" article series to review the year’s developments in the crypto industry and wish the sector a future where the cold winter fades away and the galaxy shines brightly in the new year.

2025 witnessed numerous milestone events in the crypto space. Clearer policies drove large - scale institutional entry, while the industry was also plagued by hacks and extreme market volatility. Below is a chronological recap of the year’s most notable industry events.

## I. Trump Returns to the White House as the First "Crypto President"

On January 20, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States at the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., becoming the first "Crypto President" in American history.

On January 23, Trump issued his first crypto - related executive order. Key provisions include:

1. Protect and promote the ability of individual citizens and the private sector to access and use public blockchains; U.S. citizens are allowed to develop and deploy software, engage in mining and validation, conduct transactions, and self - custody digital assets.

2. Safeguard the sovereignty of the U.S. dollar and promote the development and growth of U.S. dollar - backed stablecoins.

3. Ensure fair and open access to banking services for all law - abiding citizens and private - sector entities.

4. Provide regulatory clarity and certainty.

5. Protect Americans from the risks of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and prohibit the establishment, issuance, circulation, and use of CBDCs within U.S. jurisdiction.

6. Revoke Executive Order 14067 titled "Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets" and the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s "Framework for International Engagement on Digital Assets".

7. Establish the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets.

8. Propose a federal regulatory framework to govern the issuance and operation of U.S. digital assets, including stablecoins.

9. Assess the feasibility of establishing and maintaining a national digital asset reserve and formulate standards for such a reserve.

Trump’s crypto - friendly monetary policies laid the foundation for clearer crypto regulation in the U.S. and fueled Bitcoin (BTC) to break through the $120,000 mark twice in 2025.

Additionally, just three days before Trump took office, the market capitalization of his official Meme coin, TRUMP, soared to over $800 billion, sparking a wealth - creation frenzy. This also triggered a celebrity Meme coin craze, which helped more ordinary people learn about cryptocurrencies but also gave rise to related controversies.

For more details, check out Jinse Finance’s special feature "Trump Officially Takes Office: The Crypto Industry Enters a New Era".

## II. Trump Signs Executive Order to Establish a Bitcoin Reserve

On March 6, Trump signed an executive order to set up a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Core details are as follows:

1. The U.S. Secretary of the Treasury shall establish an office to manage and control custody accounts collectively known as the "Strategic Bitcoin Reserve", with capital consisting of all BTC held by the Treasury Department.

2. The U.S. Secretary of the Treasury shall establish an office to manage and control custody accounts collectively referred to as the "U.S. Digital Asset Reserve", with capital including all digital assets (excluding BTC) owned by the Treasury Department, which were ultimately seized as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings.

3. The U.S. Secretaries of the Treasury and Commerce shall formulate strategies to acquire additional BTC for the government, provided that these strategies have no impact on the budget and do not impose incremental costs on U.S. taxpayers.

For the full executive order, see "Quick Overview of Trump’s Executive Order on the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and U.S. Digital Asset Reserve".

## III. SEC Shifts to a Crypto - Friendly Policy

In April 2025, Paul Atkins officially took over as the Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

On August 1, Paul Atkins launched "Project Crypto", aiming to formulate clearer and more inclusive digital asset rules, including specific regulatory frameworks for core issues such as crypto issuance, trading, and custody, to meet the needs of the on - chain financial market. Key initiatives are as follows:

1. Define clear criteria for identifying crypto assets that are not securities to reduce uncertainty caused by regulatory ambiguity.

2. Introduce an innovative exemption mechanism to provide a temporary legal path for new projects and token issuances.

3. Plan to reform securities issuance and trading rules to enable legal trading of crypto assets within the existing securities market mechanism.

Throughout the year, the SEC also dropped its illegal enforcement case against Coinbase and closed investigations into crypto projects such as Ondo, Aave, and Yuga Labs.

For more information, refer to "Speech by SEC Chairman: Next Steps for Project Crypto — Establishing a Token Taxonomy".

## IV. Trump Wields the Tariff Stick

In 2025, adhering to the "America First" principle, Trump frequently adjusted tariff policies. Starting with tariff hikes on specific goods from certain countries, he gradually escalated them to large - scale global "reciprocal tariffs", and later revised the rates multiple times through economic and trade negotiations.

- February 1: Trump signed an executive order to impose an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods imported into the U.S. on top of existing tariffs, citing issues such as fentanyl. Meanwhile, he imposed a 25% tariff on goods from Mexico and Canada, with a separate 10% tariff on Canadian energy products.

- April 3 ("Liberation Day"): Trump officially signed an executive order on reciprocal tariffs.

- April 8: He announced an increase in the "reciprocal tariff" on Chinese goods from 34% to 84%.

For more details, check Jinse Finance’s special coverage "The '1011' Crash and Liquidation: The Worst 'Black Swan' Day in Crypto History".

## XIV. CZ Receives Presidential Pardon

On October 22, Trump signed a pardon order for CZ (Changpeng Zhao), which was announced to the public the following day.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt released a statement saying: "The President, exercising his constitutional authority, has pardoned Mr. CZ, who was prosecuted during the Biden administration’s war on cryptocurrencies. The Biden administration’s war on cryptocurrencies is over." After his release, Changpeng Zhao quickly expressed his gratitude to Trump, stating that he "will do his utmost to help the United States become the cryptocurrency capital of the world and promote the development of Web3 globally".

For more details, see "From Imprisonment to Presidential Pardon: Will Changpeng Zhao Embark on a 'Political Career'?".

## XV. Bybit Hacked for Nearly $1.5 Billion; Balancer Hacked for Over $100 Million

On February 21, cryptocurrency exchange Bybit revealed that its Ethereum multi - signature cold wallet had been subject to unauthorized activities, resulting in the theft of nearly $1.5 billion worth of ETH and stETH assets. The North Korean - affiliated Lazarus Group was identified as the culprit behind the hack. According to Bybit’s official announcement, the hackers created a phishing website imitating a multi - signature wallet service provider to trick internal signers of the platform into authorizing fund transfers. They successfully gained control of the Ethereum cold wallet and scattered 401,000 crypto assets to 48 anonymous addresses. Some of the stolen assets were converted into Bitcoin via cross - chain bridges to cover their tracks. The price of Ethereum dropped 4% in a single day, and Bitcoin also fluctuated downward from a high of $105,000 due to negative market sentiment, briefly falling below the $90,000 mark.

For more details, check Jinse Finance’s special report "The Largest Theft in History: Bybit’s Nightmare Weekend".

On November 3, the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) protocol Balancer was hacked, leading to the theft of over $100 million in digital assets. Affected by the hack and the selling pressure from the stolen assets worth nearly $100 million, SOL plummeted by nearly 10% within 24 hours. Notably, Balancer had undergone 11 audits before the incident.

For more information, see "5 Years, 11 Audits, 6 Hacks: Why Does Balancer, with a Troubled Past, Still Have Fans?".

## XVI. Hashkey’s IPO

On December 1, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange announced that HashKey Holdings Limited had passed its listing hearing and was set to go public, with J.P. Morgan, Guotai Haitong, and Guotai Junan International serving as joint sponsors. On December 17, HashKey Holdings Limited was officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

HashKey’s IPO journey marks a significant milestone in the compliant development of Hong Kong’s crypto industry and also reflects the trend of global crypto companies embracing mainstream capital markets.

For more details, see "HashKey’s True Financials Behind the IPO Hype: Monthly Active Users Less Than 15,000, Half - Year Loss of HK$500 Million".

## XVII. Ethereum Fusaka Upgrade

On December 3, the Ethereum Fusaka upgrade was officially activated at mainnet slot 13,164,544.

Fusaka represents a crucial step in Ethereum’s scaling roadmap. It enhances Layer 1 performance, expands Blob capacity, improves Rollup cost - effectiveness, and upgrades user experience. It also introduces a "Blob - only Parameters" fork mechanism to safely increase Blob capacity as Rollup demand grows.

For a comprehensive analysis, check Jinse Finance’s special feature "Complete Analysis of the Ethereum Fusaka Upgrade".

## XVIII. OCC Approves National Trust Bank Charters for Circle and Other Companies

On December 13, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) conditionally approved national trust bank charters for Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, Paxos, and Circle.

A "conditional approval" is a form of preliminary recognition, indicating that the OCC has reviewed the applications and determined that the companies basically meet regulatory requirements, such as capital adequacy, risk management frameworks, and business plans, but it is not a final license. Companies must meet specific conditions within a specified period to convert to a fully operational status. Once all conditions are met, the OCC will issue a final, unconditional national trust bank charter, allowing the companies to immediately exercise trust banking powers, including:

1. Expanding core businesses, such as acting as a trustee to manage client assets, processing payment settlements, providing custody services for digital assets (e.g., stablecoin reserves), and offering related financial services.

2. Unlike full - service banks, trust banks cannot accept deposits or issue loans. They can apply for a Federal Reserve master account to accelerate clearing and access the traditional financial system, further promoting the integration of crypto and traditional finance.

For more details, see "The New Battlefield for Stablecoins: Why Stablecoin Issuers Are Rushing to Apply for National Trust Bank Charters".

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