Michael Saylor and MicroStrategy are again setting the standard for other companies to follow in terms of adopting a Bitcoin Strategy. Saylor recently revealed the company’s plans to raise up to $84 billion to buy more Bitcoin.
MicroStrategy To Raise $84 Billion To Buy More BTC
In an X post, Michael Saylor announced that MicroStrategy has doubled its capital plan to $42 billion in equity and $42 billion in fixed income to purchase more Bitcoin. The company has also announced a BTC yield of 13.7% and a BTC gain of $5.8 billion year-to-date (YTD). Meanwhile, it plans to increase its BTC yield target from 15% to 25% and BTC gain target from $10 billion to $15 billion for 2025.
The company, now known as Strategy, currently holds 553,555 BTC, which it acquired at a total cost of $37.90 billion and at an average price of $68,459 per bitcoin. As Coingape reported, Strategy acquired 15,355 Bitcoin for $1.42 billion last week at an average price of $92,737 per BTC.
MicroStrategy ramped up its Bitcoin Strategy towards the end of last year, regularly purchasing BTC every week from November to the end of the year. The firm has continued the buying streak this year, having purchased BTC almost every week since the start of 2025.
As a result, Saylor and his company currently hold over 2% of Bitcoin’s total circulating supply and are the public company with the largest BTC holdings. BlackRock is the only other institutional investor that ranks ahead of Strategy. The world’s largest asset manager currently holds around 570,000 BTC in assets under management (AuM).
As part of its $84 billion capital raise, Strategy has announced a new $21 billion at-the-market (ATM) common stock equity offering. The company has already raised about $6.6 billion through the issuance and sale of its Class A common stock.
Plans for the smooth sailing of fresh stablecoin regulation have hit a curb following a group of Congressmen’s decision to withdraw their support. US senators are rejecting the GENIUS Act in its current form in a move that can derail the outcome of a final vote.
10 US Senators Will Not Vote In Favor Of The GENIUS Act
According to an X post by cryptocurrency journalist Eleanor Terrett, a group of US senators are poking holes in The Guiding And Establishing National Innovation For US Stablecoins (GENIUS Act) over its provisions. The senators, led by Ruben Gallego, have issued a joint statement criticizing the updated text of the stablecoin regulation.
Per the Congressmen, the GENIUS Act requires tighter provisions on anti-money laundering and national security guardrails. Furthermore, the group is pushing for additional provisions to protect the local financial ecosystem from undue disruptions.
The senators are raising concerns over the lack of clarity of foreign stablecoin issuers and the potential threat to national security. Finally, the joint statement takes swipes at the absence of stiff penalties for issuers that fail to meet the standards of the GENIUS Act.
A previous Coingape report notes that US senators will vote for the GENIUS Act before May 26. However, the senators will not vote for the bill in its current form unless the provisions are modified.
“While we are eager to continue working with our colleagues to address these issues, we would be unable to vote for cloture should the current version of the bill come to the floor.
Stablecoin Issuers May Face Disruption To Their Compliance Plans
While it seemed that the GENIUS Act was hurtling toward full approval, the joint statement by the group of senators complicated matters. For starters, there is a possibility that the dissent may grow, potentially affecting the voting outcomes and triggering a delay.
Bo Hines has previously predicted the rollout of stablecoin regulation before June, but fresh dissent could prolong the passage. If the bill fails to pass the House vote, there is the potential for reconsideration after fresh amendments.
Stablecoin issuers will be the hardest hit, with the delay affecting their short-term and mid-term plans. Ahead of incoming stablecoin regulation, Tether has unveiled plans to release a stablecoin for US users, going head-to-head with the USD1 stablecoin.
Amid the absence of regulatory clarity, Ripple has paused minting RLUSD stablecoins after crossing the $300 million market capitalization mark. A delay to the timeline of the GENIUS Act will affect the listing of WLFI’s USD1 stablecoin on centralized exchanges.
Ethereum (ETH) price is on a bullish path today, May 1, after crossing above $1,850 for the first time in more than three weeks. The gains come amid chatter that ETH may have hit a local bottom, with key on-chain metrics supporting this hypothesis.
ETH value today trades at $1,847 with a modest 2.62% gain in 24 hours. The uptrend coincides with a 60% spike in trading volumes, as the market eagerly awaits whether a breakout above the psychological level of $2,000 will happen next.
ETH/USDT: 4-Hour Chart
Has Ethereum (ETH) Price Bottomed as MVRV Z-Score Spark Speculation?
The Ethereum MVRV Z-Score has plummeted to an extremely oversold region, a move that has historically formed a bottom for this altcoin. Looking at past trends, each time the ETH price entered this zone, it was followed by a notable surge in the price.
For instance, in 2023, the MVRV Z-Score reached a local bottom as ETH plummeted to around $1,500. As soon as this metric flashed an oversold signal, a parabolic rally ensued within three months to above $3,800. In 2020, the Ethereum price surged 5x from around $200 to above $1,000 shortly after this indicator also became oversold.
Ethereum MVRV Z-Score
If the above trend repeats, ETH price may have just found its local bottom within the $1,700 to $1,800 range, and it is now poised to make a bullish reversal.
Delta Growth Rate Signals ETH Recovery
At the same time, the Delta Growth Rate, a metric used to measure the ratio of ETH’s market cap against its realized cap has also plunged to bear market territory. Just like the MVRV Z-Score ratio, whenever this metric turns negative, it suggests that the Ethereum bottom is in, and the price eyes an upward trajectory.
Ethereum Delta Growth Rate
Besides on-chain metrics, analyst sentiment also supports a bullish Ethereum price prediction and the argument that ETH has indeed bottomed. Titan of Crypto noted that ETH’s “monthly RSI is back at the same level where the altcoin has historically bottomed. Merlin the Trader also opines,
“In 2020, Bitcoin consolidated at $8K… Most ignored it. Then it hit $64K. Today, Ethereum is showing the exact same structure. Accumulation. Compression. Explosion loading.”
The combination of these on-chain metrics and analysts’ views supports the argument that the bottom is in, and ETH price may breakout past $2,000 to multi-month highs is possible.
Ethereum Price Analysis as Rally to $3,000 Beckons
As on-chain metrics indicate that the Ethereum price bottom is in, a rally to $3,000 may be on the horizon, and the daily price chart supports the likelihood of this happening in the coming months.
ETH has broken out of a descending parallel channel, indicating that it wants to overcome the downward trend and push higher. A confirmation of this breakout will occur if ETH makes several decisive closes above the upper trendline and overcomes the first resistance level at $2,112.
If Ethereum can flip this first resistance level and also overcome the next hurdle at $2,472, it will be prime for the next run-up towards $3,064.
ETH/USDT: 1-day Chart
Technical indicators support this bullish thesis, with the RSI making higher highs as the CMF maintains levels above 50, indicating that sellers are not overpowering buyers despite market-wide uncertainty. However, this bullish thesis will be invalid if the Ethereum price slips below the mid-line of the descending channel.
In 2025, the ecosystems that thrive aren’t the loudest — they’re the most strategic, the most focused, and the ones building lasting value. Ecosystem health today is increasingly measured by the depth of developer engagement, not the size of token airdrops or surface-level metrics. Marketing has evolved too: AI tools, grassroots community operations, and hybrid content strategies are replacing short-lived, high-gloss campaigns.
As crypto becomes a fixture in national policy and economic frameworks, credibility and trust within ecosystems have emerged as the new currencies of growth.
There’s no one-size-fits-all playbook anymore. To uncover what’s actually working today, we spoke with growth leaders from Sui, Avalanche, Syscoin, Manta Network, and others.
This report helps to shed some light on the ongoing trends in the crypto-related marketing and find out which of them are setting the pace for the next wave of sustainable growth.
TL;DR:
In 2025, the ecosystems thriving aren’t the loudest. They’re the most strategic, most focused and most aligned with long-term value.
Ecosystem health is increasingly tied to the depth of developer engagement, not the size of token airdrops or vanity metrics.
Marketing has evolved. AI tools, grassroots community ops, and hybrid content strategies are replacing high-gloss, short-cycle campaigns.
With crypto entering national policy agendas and economic frameworks, credibility and ecosystem trust are new growth currencies.
There’s no one-size-fits-all. We spoke with growth leaders from Sui, Avalanche, Syscoin, Manta Network and others to uncover what’s actually working.
Back in 2024, crypto felt like it was everywhere and nowhere all at once.
Timelines were flooded with debates, L1 vs. L2, monolithic vs. modular, liquidity this, fragmentation that. Almost everyone had a hot take and every project was scrambling for a flash of attention that barely lasted longer than a tweet.
You could launch a project, nail the narrative, get your retweets and podcast mentions and still wake up the next day with no real momentum.
It wasn’t sustainable and deep down, most teams knew it.
And yet, behind the scenes, something foundational shifted.
For the first time, crypto became a serious topic in policy rooms.
The U.S. government announced a strategic crypto reserve.
The SEC greenlit Bitcoin and Ether ETPs, signaling a long-awaited shift in regulatory posture.
Lawmakers started treating blockchain not as a niche asset class, but as infrastructure and a core component of national strategy.
Suddenly, crypto had a seat at the big table. That was the moment the growth playbook started to change.
Fast-forward to 2025, ecosystems that had been optimizing for virality started asking tougher questions:
What does long-term credibility look like?
How do we show up to policymakers and enterprises, not just degens and influencers?
Can we measure our health beyond just wallet counts and discord headcounts?
To find answers, we spoke with ecosystem leaders across 10 blockchain networks, from early-stage innovators to mature platforms. Despite technical and strategic diversity, they shared one common mindset: They’re building like they plan to be here in five, ten, twenty years.
This is post-hype crypto and the rules have changed.
Key highlights and critical findings
Marketing budgets are all over the place: Some teams are grinding with less than $100K a year while others are spending $10 million and up. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach, but the gap speaks volumes.
Hybrid teams are the new normal: The smartest teams are optimizing for speed, adaptability, and high-context execution. They’re ruthlessly prioritizing talent that moves the needle, not just fills roles.
Builders are the flywheel: Growth teams are channeling most of their energy into developer outreach such as grants, hackathons, ambassador programs, and local language support are common plays.
Audience alignment: In an oversaturated, narrative-heavy market, cutting through the noise to reach the right set of audience is still one of the biggest hurdles.
Tactics are getting sharper: AI-powered marketing, community-based onboarding, and incentive models like “watch-to-earn” are emerging as key differentiators in creating sticky, engaging experiences.
Research Methodology
To understand what’s driving ecosystem growth in 2025, we went straight to the source in conversations with ten executives across active, forward-thinking blockchain networks including Sui, Avalanche, Manta Network, Syscoin, eCash, and CrossFi Chain.
Our findings are structured across five critical themes:
→ Strategic Priorities
→ Growth Challenges
→ Team Structures
→ Marketing Tactics
→ Budget Allocation
These are the pressure points where ecosystems are being tested, where they’re iterating and where the shift from hype to health is most visible.
The answers weren’t surface-level.
They were honest, revealing, and at times, surprisingly candid.
Section 1: The Evolving Landscape of Crypto Ecosystems
1.1 From Noise to Nuance
Not long ago, crypto felt like a winner-takes-all race.
Ethereum and Bitcoin dominated headlines, while new chains clawed for attention with a flashy feature or a viral announcement.
But that playbook has changed.
Today, the landscape is more fragmented and more alive than ever.
Upstart chains can gain real traction in months. Niche ecosystems are finding staying power by serving focused communities with precision: real dev support, localized outreach, unique tooling, and use cases that resonate with people who actually build.
It’s no longer about being the biggest.
It’s about being the most relevant to the audience that matters.
Source: Market share distribution among top ecosystems.
The momentum has shifted from mass appeal to mission-driven growth.
The ecosystems making progress are the ones listening, serving and playing the long game.
1.2 Key growth metrics and benchmarks
Among surveyed ecosystems, developer adoption has become the north star metric.
While TVL remains a benchmark, leading teams are shifting toward engagement depth over vanity counts. Grants, hackathons, and local campaigns outperform short-term airdrops in both onboarding and retention.
1.3 Critical Challenges Facing Ecosystem Growth
Source: Top Barriers to Ecosystem Adoption Identified by Executives
Based on direct feedback, the top challenges for ecosystems today are:
Difficulty reaching the right audience
Oversaturation of the crypto landscape
Budget constraints and limited runway for experimentation
While blockchain infrastructure is improving,especially with L2 scalability and better dev tooling, the biggest challenges aren’t technical anymore.
They’re strategic.
Most teams aren’t struggling with what to build but with how to position, differentiate, and communicate.
“It’s no longer enough to be technically sound. Ecosystem success depends on whether you can communicate value to developers, users and partners in the clearest, most compelling way possible.” – — Matthew Schmenk, Ecosystem Growth Lead, Avalanche
Section 2: Marketing & Growth Strategies
“Marketing in crypto used to be noise. Now it’s systems thinking – who you reach, how you reach them, and why they stay.”- The Lunar Strategy Team
Ecosystem marketing in 2025 isn’t about dropping a flashy campaign, running a paid KOL loop, and hoping it sticks. Today, marketing is infrastructure.
It’s the connective tissue between ecosystem layers: builders, users, tokenholders, institutions driving onboarding, retention, and legitimacy.
Let’s break it down:
2.1 Choosing the Right Growth Model
Source: Percentage of Ecosystems Using External Agencies vs. In-House Teams
According to our survey:
60% use a hybrid model (in-house + agency)
40% operate with fully internal teams
2.2 Analysing the Pros and Cons
Hybrid models allow for speed and flexibility while maintaining institutional knowledge. Fully in-house teams prioritize cohesion but may lack bandwidth or breadth of expertise.
2.3 Marketing Budget Allocation Across Ecosystems
Annual budgets vary widely:
<$500K: Primarily in-house with lean teams
$500K–$1M: Hybrid setups with agency retained for campaigns
$5M+: Full-stack growth teams covering PR, events, KOLs, paid media, SEO and more
What’s changing in 2025 isn’t just how much teams spend, it’s how precisely they deploy capital:
Early-stage: lean, localized execution
Mid-tier: AI tooling, content ops, ambassador focus
Mature: brand systems, KOL pipelines, segmentation
“In 2024, we spent $2M and didn’t know what moved the needle. In 2025, we’re spending half that – with 3x the return – because we track the full funnel.” — Ecosystem CMO
Section 3: Driving Ecosystem Adoption
As ecosystems compete for market share, one truth is becoming increasingly clear: developers are the new power users.
Ecosystem health is now largely measured by the number and quality of developers actively building, contributing, and shipping.
3.1 Developer Acquisition & Retention
Across the board, developer evangelism and hackathons ranked as the most effective levers for attracting high-quality builders. In 2025, 9 out of 10 ecosystem leaders called them “critical” or “highly effective.”
But incentives alone aren’t enough.
The modern developer is motivated by clear value exchange and personal growth, not just payouts.
Here’s what’s working now:
Hackathons with real-world utility
On-chain recognition (e.g., badges, NFTs)
IRL builder meetups with funded follow-through
In short, developer outreach is all about frictionless onboarding, compelling challenges, and a clear value exchange.
Also, programs that combine monetary reward + mentorship + visibility are far outperforming “spray-and-pray” grants.
Case Highlights:
eCash: Turned its internal engineers into public-facing magnets for talent. Builders engage because they trust the humans behind the chain.
Syscoin: Hosts regionally targeted AMAs → feeds directly into localized hackathons → devs connect directly to mentors.
Sui: “Watch-to-Earn” onboarding that rewards learning with gas fee discounts, NFTs, and access to future funding rounds.
Takeaway: Attracting developers is about storytelling. The ecosystems seeing long-term success are those building not just incentives but infrastructure, identity and upward mobility.
3.2 Community Building & Engagement
While developer acquisition drives infrastructure growth, community engagement fuels longevity. Every successful ecosystem in 2025 has one thing in common: a loyal, activated community with a clear identity.
Source: The Most effective community growth tactics
While growth tactics vary, one truth stands out: the most resilient ecosystems pair online engagement with offline connection.
Top tactics driving community growth:
Strategic partnerships and cross-promotion
Ambassador programs built around values, not vanity
Hybrid content strategies that blend memes, education, and culture
In fact, ecosystems like Sui and Syscoin consistently outperform larger chains on key ecosystem health metrics not because they’re bigger, but because they’re tighter:
Higher TVL per wallet
Greater contributor-to-user ratio
More active builders per community member
Case Study: Syscoin’s grassroots events across APAC led to a 30% increase in wallet retention among new users, with ongoing community-led workshops in 5+ cities.
3.3 The Role of Kaito in Ecosystem Brand Building
In 2025, brand strategy has moved beyond logos and Twitter handles.
The Kaito framework, designed to optimize ecosystem mindshare is fast becoming a differentiator for projects seeking credibility and cohesion.
Source: Kaito mindshare metrics across top ecosystems
Adoption Snapshot:
Only 10% of surveyed ecosystems are currently using a structured Kaito strategy
However, 40% are actively exploring adoption in the next cycle
Projects like Berachain that adopted early Kaito brand structuring reports increased developer trust, faster community onboarding and stronger alignment between technical and community narratives.
Strategic Approaches to Kaito Optimization:
Clear “voice pillars” that reflect ecosystem values
Unified messaging across technical, enterprise, and community verticals
Scalable content kits and assets to empower contributors to amplify the brand
Today, ecosystems aren’t asking “How do we go viral?”
Instead, they’re asking “How do we show up with the right message, in the right format and to the right audience consistently?”
The new growth stack includes:
Influencer alignment by audience layer
PR as a funnel driver, not a vanity boost
Social media as ecosystem UX
AI and segmentation to fine-tune delivery
Let’s break down the mechanics behind the ecosystems getting it right.
4.1 Influencer Marketing Effectiveness
Influencer marketing remains effective, only if you get the tier right.
Source: ROI comparison across influencer tiers
Key Takeaway:
Nano Influencers (1K–10K): ~4.2x ROI
Micro Influencers (10K–50K): ~3.9x ROI
Macro/Mega Influencers: Significantly lower returns due to saturation and high CPM
Nano and Micro influencers (1K–50K followers) outperform all others in ROI due to stronger niche focus, higher engagement, and lower cost-per-activation.
Though, the Top-performing influencer strategies in 2025 blend:
Nano creators for authenticity (Twitter threads, walkthroughs)
Mid-tier educators for onboarding and explanation (YouTube, LinkedIn)
Selective mega partnerships for major announcements or enterprise plays
Best for:
Early-stage projects
Ecosystems entering new regions or subcultures
Campaigns focused on developer credibility over hype
The Lunar Amplification Method
Used by select top-tier ecosystems, the Lunar Amplification Method is a multi-tiered distribution system that combines:
AI-driven influencer matching
Creator content kits (assets, talking points, tone guides)
Performance-based tiers (creators earn more by driving on-chain action)
It’s a system where the creator voice becomes a scalable growth vector backed by data, incentives, and trust.
4.2 Public Relations & Media Coverage
Too many ecosystems view PR as a vanity move.
The most effective teams treat it as distribution infrastructure.
This dual-axis chart illustrates how media coverage intensity correlates with:
Average Developer Sign-ups
Total Value Locked (TVL) Growth
Investing in PR campaigns and consistent media exposure can significantly accelerate ecosystem adoption both in developer participation and capital inflow (TVL).
Key Takeaways:
Developer sign-ups scale from ~50 (Low coverage) to ~400 (Very High coverage).
TVL growth jumps from 5% under low coverage to an impressive 45% with very high media presence.
Higher media coverage directly correlates with a sharp rise in both developer sign-ups and TVL growth.
Example: Manta Network launched its dev-focused ZK SDK and timed the announcement with coordinated earned media + regional hackathons = 3.2x increase in sign-ups over 14 days.
4.3 Social Media Strategy
In 2025, ecosystems aren’t asking “should we be on [platform]?”
They’re asking how do we show up with the right content, for the right moment, on each platform?
This bar chart displays how frequently various social media platforms are mentioned as part of crypto ecosystem growth strategies.
Platform Highlights:
Twitter dominates as the most commonly used platform
Telegram and Discord follow closely, suggesting strong emphasis on community interaction and support hubs.
Lesser-used platforms like Reddit, YouTube and Facebook play a niche role in ecosystem marketing.
However, crypto ecosystems should create platform-specific content:
Twitter: Memes, threads, real-time updates
Telegram/Discord: Community health, AMAs, governance
Ecosystems are moving beyond flat airdrops and short-term incentives, and instead architecting behaviorally intelligent tokenomics that reward commitment, skill and genuine contribution.
The question is no longer “What do we give?” but “What are we reinforcing?”
5.1 Effective Incentive Structures
Incentives were once a shortcut for growth.
Now, they’re shaping everything from user retention to governance alignment to ecosystem stickiness.
Source: This bar chart compares the perceived effectiveness of two major types of incentive mechanisms used in crypto ecosystems.
These often tie directly to network growth metrics such as TVL, active wallets, and user retention.
Off-chain rewards can still be useful for short-term engagement, brand visibility, and community culture.
Projects that tie incentives to measurable contributions and future value (e.g., governance power, access tiers) retain users longer than those offering flat token grants.
Case Examples:
Syscoin offers tiered rewards for contributor milestones
Manta Network combines token drops with future airdrop eligibility tied to participation
5.2 Local Developer Hubs
Ecosystem growth is global by default and regional by design.
Local developer hubs are now a critical piece of post-hype strategy.
Source: Geographic distribution of developer hubs
This chart highlights the regional presence of developer hubs across the globe, indicating where ecosystems are establishing a physical or community-driven footprint to support builders.
Regional presence is shaping ecosystem strength:
Asia-Pacific leads in number of hubs, driven by fast-growing developer ecosystems
North America/Europe hold steady with mature infrastructure and funding access
Latin America, MENA, and Africa show rapid interest but remain early-stage
More consistent retention through community anchoring
Best Practices:
Launch hybrid events (online + local)
Create language-specific docs and support
Offer region-based grant programs tied to local needs
Conclusion
Crypto in 2025 is quieter, deeper, and more intentional.
The ecosystems winning today are building context, culture, and trust, rooted in purpose where meaningful value, thoughtful execution, and trusted communities are taking center stage.
Our deep-dive conversations with builders, marketers and ecosystem leaders across ten blockchain networks uncovered three core principles that are setting the pace for the next wave of sustainable growth:
Developer-First, Always: The thriving ecosystems treat developers with genuine support, visibility, and growth paths. They’ve recognized that every successful builder brings ten more, creating a powerful flywheel effect and it’s the foundation everything else builds upon.
Communities Over Crowds: The most dynamic ecosystems are building tight-knit, purpose-driven communities where members feel ownership and identity. They’re creating spaces where online connections lead to offline relationships and where shared values matter more than token price.
Strategic Over Tactical: Leading teams build comprehensive growth systems where every channel, message, and touchpoint works together. They’re tracking full-funnel metrics and optimizing for lasting engagement, not just initial attention.
We’re past the era of chasing “what’s working.”
The real question is: What’s worth building and who’s staying to build it with you?
So, focus on creating real value for the people who matter most to your ecosystem. Build with intention, authenticity and remember that in a market still finding its footing and the strongest position isn’t being the loudest voice but the most trusted one.
Because ecosystems aren’t websites.
They’re living systems.
About Lunar Strategy’s Ecosystem Launchpad Accelerator
Lunar Strategy’s Ecosystem Launchpad Accelerator combines deep expertise in go-to-market strategy, ecosystem growth, and strategic advisory to help innovative Layer 1 and Layer 2 projects capitalize on the historic crypto market shift.
With 25+ years of combined experience across top ecosystems like Solana, Cardano, Mantle, Polkadot, and ICP, our team brings proven frameworks for:
