Let’s break it down with facts instead of emotions.
Starting with Bitcoin (BTC)
In the final quarter of 2024, Bitcoin was trading near $52,000. By the last quarter of 2025, it pushed to a new all-time high of $126,198 — a gain of roughly 142% in one year.
That’s not a weak move at all. In fact, it’s a very respectable yearly return.
What about altcoins?
Ethereum (ETH) climbed from around $2,300 to $4,955, marking the highest price ETH has ever reached (Q4 2025).
Solana (SOL) surged from $120 to nearly $295, hitting its ATH in early 2025.
Other major coins like XRP, BNB, XMR, and TRX also printed new all-time highs during 2025.
So if prices went up across the board, why is this cycle labeled “bad”?
The real reasons behind the disappointment
Expectations were unrealistically high, especially after the Bitcoin halving.
Rallies were short-lived and quickly followed by aggressive pullbacks.
The Solana meme-coin wave absorbed a huge amount of liquidity, with meme-coin trading volume on Solana alone touching $1.6 trillion, pulling attention and capital away from the broader market.
Final takeaway
The old strategy of simply buying legacy coins and waiting years for them to revisit past highs is slowly losing effectiveness.
Crypto markets evolve fast — narratives, liquidity, and trends change constantly.
If you fail to adapt, you don’t just miss opportunities — you risk falling behind.
For small investors especially, going against the flow is no longer an option.
