The Guide to Crypto Markets is a quarterly publication from Coinbase Institutional and Glassnode that provides an in-depth view of crypto markets, including deep dives into onchain analytics and advanced metrics for bitcoin and ether. Below is a snippet of the report.
Guide to Crypto Markets: Q1 2025
From market data to onchain insights to advanced trading metrics, the Guide to Crypto Markets is the definitive resource for institutional investors to understand how crypto markets work, what indicators to watch, and why they matter.
January 29, 2025

Key takeaways
- As we begin 2025, cryptocurrency markets have entered a new phase in their development and maturation.
- In terms of utility, stablecoins are meaningfully disrupting the payments landscape, bringing crypto and fiat banking solutions closer together.
- On the regulatory front, we think institutional investors may feel more confident on progress in the US after President Trump's first crypto-related executive order pledged to "support the responsible growth and use of digital assets, blockchain technology, and related technologies across all sectors of the economy".
- From a portfolio perspective, crypto's role as a diversifying asset is gaining traction, supported by a fall in bitcoin volatility from an average of 70% during the 2020-22 period to sub-50% after 2023.
Written by
- David Duong, CFA - Head of Research at Coinbase Institutional
- Glassnode
Transformative Growth
As we begin 2025, cryptocurrency markets have entered a new phase in their development and maturation.
In terms of utility, stablecoins are meaningfully disrupting the payments landscape, bringing crypto and fiat banking solutions closer together.
On the regulatory front, we think institutional investors may feel more confident on progress in the US after President Trump’s first crypto-related executive order pledged to “support the responsible growth and use of digital assets, blockchain technology, and related technologies across all sectors of the economy.”
Meanwhile, central banks and major financial institutions around the world are exploring how blockchain rails might make asset-issuance, trading, and record-keeping more efficient. From a portfolio perspective, crypto’s role as a diversifying asset is gaining traction, supported by a fall in bitcoin volatility from an average of 70% during the 2020-22 period to sub-50% after 2023.
As a result, we’ve seen many new investors enter the market, and long-term players have continued to innovate and push the envelope on what can be accomplished with crypto and blockchain technology. Add it all up and it’s not hard to understand why crypto has become a firmly established alternative asset class with real staying power.
Our spotlight themes this quarter (Ownership in Transition, Stablecoins Take Off, and Layer-2s Lead the Way) reflect the maturation of the market and the broadening of the crypto economy. And the insights shared by our partners help to frame the current environment and shed light on what they consider to be the most important charts in crypto right now.
Throughout the Guide to Crypto Markets, we go beyond the headlines and dig deep into market data and onchain analytics to provide institutional investors with the insights to understand the trends that are shaping markets today, and how they may impact the dynamic crypto economy going forward.
We hope you find the Guide useful as you navigate crypto markets, and we welcome your feedback and questions.
David Duong, Head of Institutional Research, Coinbase
Glassnode Analyst