Divergent Views on Crypto Market Performance in 2025
The crypto market in 2025 is subject to contrasting interpretations regarding its performance compared to previous years. Two key perspectives have emerged to explain current trends and future outlooks.
Kevin McCordic, director of growth at Monad Foundation, characterizes 2025 as a period of routine consolidation following the crises of 2022. He references failures among credit lenders, exchange collapses, and token liquidations as major disruptions that the market is still recovering from. According to this view, investors should remain patient and expect a cyclical rebound as the market stabilizes.
In contrast, Nic Carter, general partner at Castle Island Ventures and cofounder of Coin Metrics, argues that 2025 feels distinctly worse due to a loss of crypto's star status and a thinning of major catalysts. Carter emphasizes that traditional strategies like the four-year playbook and the concept of an alt-season are no longer reliable. Instead, he suggests that future gains will hinge on the shipping of products that provide tangible user value. The market's current weakness, in his assessment, reflects a shift in attention away from crypto toward other sectors such as artificial intelligence.
Market data on November 15 shows Bitcoin trading around $95,234 at 9 p.m. UTC, representing a 0.9% increase over the previous 24 hours and a modest year-to-date gain of 1.93%. This contrasts with broader equity markets, where the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite have increased by 14.75% and 18.77% respectively during the same timeframe.
Overall, while McCordic views the 2025 crypto environment as a healing phase leading back to growth, Carter highlights fundamental challenges related to investor attention and product innovation that could shape crypto's trajectory moving forward.
