The crypto market took a hit in early 2025 in contrast to the late 2024 highs it achieved. The total crypto market cap dropped over 18% in Q1 falling to $2.8 trillion at the close of Q1, after it briefly touched $3.8 trillion high in January.
Even with the market slump, Bitcoin’s dominance surged to 59.1%, which is its highest since 2021.
Ethereum Struggles Dropping 45% in Q1
Ethereum fell by a sharp 3.9 percentage points, falling to just 7.9% in market dominance. This marks Ether’s lowest share since late 2019 which shows its sluggish performance amidst the broader market downturn.
Ethereum plummeted 45.3% in Q1 2025, closing at $1,805, wiping out all its 2024 gains. It massively underperformed cryptos like Bitcoin, Solana, XRP, and Binance Coin, which recorded minimum declines. Its trading volume also dropped from $30 billion in Q4 2024 to $24.4 billion in the latest quarter.
Whale Activity Worsens the Drop
Additionally, recent data from lookonchain reveals that a wallet linked to the Ethereum Foundation deposited 1,000 $ETH worth $1.58M to Kraken, which could trigger a drop in price.
Ethereum Foundation (EF) faced criticism in 2024 for offloading 4,466 ETH worth $12.61 million during bearish market conditions. These sales have historically been followed by sharp price drops, adding more pressure to already lagging Ether.
Veteran trader Peter Brandt also recently warned that Ether could crash to $800, revisiting its 2022 lows. ETH is now over 60% below its 2021 peak of $4,878, with most of the losses in just the last three months. The token is currently trading at $1,757, down over 2% today.
Ripple Labs-affiliated coin is in the spotlight as the XRP trading volume and price show bearish consolidation on the daily chart. At the time of writing, the XRP price had slipped by 0.16% in 24 hours and is now changing hands for $2.191. The digital currency moved from a low of $2.18 to a high of $2.2 before settling at the current level. The XRP volume may determine its next major shift amid the close trading range shift.
XRP Trading Volume Drops, Should Investors Be Worried?
XRP trading volume is one of the core metrics that gauges investor interest and adoption trends. According to data from CoinMarketCap, the volume has dropped by 32.5% to $1,445,253,443.43. This drop is unusual, as the coin has recorded mostly high volume for most of the week.
Beyond XRP, other tokens within the Ripple ecosystem, including RLUSD, have also seen a drop in volume. Market data shows that the stablecoin has dropped 57.87%, with just $23,583,892.16 traded in 24 hours.
There has been a correlation between the XRP price and RLUSD volume, as reported on different occasions. For instance, when the stablecoin volume rallied by 45% in 24 hours on April 24, speculation mounted that the XRP price could reclaim a 45% high. Although this forecast has yet to materialize, the odds have always remained high.
With trading volume now down, whether or not the bullish momentum can be sustained remains unknown.
What Next For Ripple Coin?
A number of events in the Ripple Labs ecosystem are set to change the outlook of the coin remarkably. The acquisition of Hidden Road for $1.25 billion and the hype around the firm’s bid on Circle remained on the horizon.
While these trends can shape the broader ecosystem sentiment around the XRP price, the historical outlook might help determine what to expect for the rest of May.
According to Cryptorank data, the coin’s average growth rate is over 25%, setting it up for a potentially bullish run. Thus far this month, despite the broader market volatility, the coin has recorded a marginal growth of 0.21%.
If history repeats itself and XRP trading volume reverts to positive, the Ripple coin may see a breakout. Despite the XRP ETF decision delay from the US SEC, the eventual approval of the product can help shape long-term settlement around the coin. With Paul Atkins now the Chairman and the commission’s pro-crypto stance, the expectation of the ETF approval remains high.
The crypto ETF industry is gaining high attention and momentum, beginning with the high inflows in the Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund. Although to this day, only two spot ETFs have been approved, more than 72, including XRP filings, await the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approval. Let’s discuss what’s coming next.
There are 72 ETF filings for Crypto ETFs, with a decision due this year.
The approval of BTC and ETH ETF opened the possibility of many others’ approval. However, despite the crypto ETF filing, the SEC decision on 72 filings remains under review. April was anticipated to bring better clarity from the SEC on some of these exchange-traded funds, like Franklin Templeton’s XRP spot ETF, but that has been postponed until June. Fidelity’s ETH ETF staking provisions also got delayed.
In a recent X post, a Bloomberg analyst anticipated further delay, claiming that this could extend till October 2025 or later. Experts claim a better response could come with Paul Atlins joining the SEC office fully before anticipating potential approval in Q3-Q4 2025.
We also had the SEC delay decisions on Ethereum Staking and Dogecoin ETFs today. I am expecting more delays today or at least this week on some Solana and Hedera/HBAR ETF filings. This is expected IMO. Final deadlines for most of this stuff is in October 2025 or later. https://t.co/kOZNCSjy6c
BTC, ETH ETF Inflow Returns While XRP ETF Remains Stranded
Bitcoin ETF was the first to get the SEC’s approval in early 2024, gaining a total volume of $2.54 billion. The total asset management comes at $113.62 billion, with the total market cap of $112.33 billion. Due to its popularity, it pushed the Bitcoin price to new highs.
Although Ethereum ETF gained less popularity than the other, it is still in demand. Its market cap sits at $177.15 billion, with total volume of $177.15 million and total AUM of $8.69 billion, per Coinglass data. However, the crypto market crash amid the Trump trade war affected the performance of these exchange-traded funds, but they recovered recently.
CoinGape earlier reported that spot Bitcoin ETFs inflow stood at $591M and $172.8M on Monday and Tuesday, respectively. At the same time, ETH witnessed $35.81k and $10.23k, but more is anticipated with investors’ bullish sentiments.
What to Expect from Crypto ETF in May 2025?
In contrast to early anticipation, there’s not much new around crypto ETF in May 2025. However, the CME futures XRP ETF launch is set to happen on May 19. This could influence other updates on the matter, especially as Paul Atkins’ participation increases.
Besides, the SEC has shifted its regulatory stance on cryptocurrencies. As a result, some better updates on altcoin ETF approval can be anticipated for the upcoming months, but uncertainty remains. In case of already launched exchange-traded funds, better inflows may begin. This is due to financial market recovery amid Fed rate cuts and other macroeconomic events.
Crypto whales are making bold moves heading into May 2025, and three tokens are standing out: Ethereum (ETH), Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET), and Onyxcoin (XCN). All three have seen a noticeable uptick in large-holder accumulation over the last week, signaling growing interest from big players despite recent volatility.
While ETH and XCN are both coming off sharp corrections, whale buying suggests confidence in a potential rebound. Meanwhile, FET is riding renewed momentum in the AI sector, with whale activity accelerating alongside rising prices.
Ethereum (ETH)
The number of Ethereum crypto whales—wallets holding between 1,000 and 10,000 ETH—has been steadily climbing since April 15. Back then, there were 5,432 such addresses.
That number has now risen to 5,460, the highest count since August 2023. At the same time, the concentration of ETH held by these whales is also hitting new highs, signaling growing accumulation by large holders.
Number of Addresses Holding Between 1,000 and 10,000 ETH. Source: Santiment.
Ethereum price is currently down more than 19% over the last 30 days. If the correction continues, the price could retest support at $1,535. Losing that level might send ETH toward deeper support at $1,412 or even $1,385.
However, if the trend reverses, key resistance zones lie at $1,669 and $1,749—with a potential push toward $1,954 if bullish momentum builds.
In this context, the growing dominance of whales could act as either a stabilizing force or a looming risk, depending on how they respond to market shifts.
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET)
The number of FET whales—wallets holding between 10,000 and 1,000,000 tokens—increased from 572 on April 13 to 586 by April 19.
This steady growth in large holders points to rising confidence among bigger players. It comes at a time when the broader AI crypto narrative is showing signs of a rebound.
Key AI coins like FET, TAO, and RENDER have all increased over 9% in the last seven days, with FET itself gaining more than 8% in the past 24 hours and 13.5% over the week. This suggests a possible comeback for the artificial intelligence narrative in crypto.
Number of Addresses Holding Between 100,000 and 1,000,000 FET. Source: Santiment.
If this momentum continues, FET could push toward resistance at $0.659. A clean breakout from that level could open the door to further gains, with $0.77 and $0.82 as the next potential targets.
On the flip side, if the rally stalls, FET might drop back to test support at $0.54. A breakdown below that could send it as low as $0.44.
With whale activity heating up and the AI sector showing renewed strength, FET’s next move could be a key signal for where the narrative heads next.
Onyxcoin (XCN)
Onyxcoin was one of the standout performers in January, but its momentum has faded in recent months. After a strong bounce—up of over 57% in the last 30 days, the token is now correcting, down 19% in the past seven days.
Despite this pullback, accumulation continues. The number of crypto whales holding between 1 million and 10 million XCN has grown from 528 on April 16 to 541, suggesting some large holders may be buying the dip.
Number of Addresses Holding Between 1,000,000 and 10,000,000 XCN. Source: Santiment.
If the correction deepens, XCN could lose support at $0.0165. A drop below that may open the door to further declines toward $0.0139 and $0.0123.
But if the trend flips back upward, the token could first test resistance at $0.020. A strong breakout from there might lead to a move toward $0.027. With whale activity on the rise and volatility returning, XCN’s next move could be decisive.
