Ethereum’s price declined in the fourth quarter of 2025, even as transaction volumes reached new highs, according to a report from Bitwise. The trend highlights a growing gap between usage and market prices.
Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan said similar disconnects have appeared at past market turning points. In those periods, prices often bottomed while adoption continued to rise and investor interest cooled.
The report found that crypto-related equities also fell in 2025, despite industry revenues growing faster than most sectors. Transaction volumes increased, and tokenized real-world assets reached record levels during the year.
Stablecoin activity added to the trend. Arkham Research reported that daily average stablecoin transaction volume hit all-time highs in October 2025, showing strong demand for blockchain-based payments.
Messari data showed the Tron network processed trillions of dollars in stablecoin transactions in 2025. Tron captured a large share of global retail transfers under $1,000 and posted record revenue in the third quarter, even as its token price stayed mostly flat.
Decentralized exchanges continued to gain market share from centralized platforms. Daily DEX volume surpassed major centralized exchanges in mid-2025, led by Uniswap, which processed billions of dollars daily and generated nearly $1 billion in fees by October.
Bitwise compared the current setup to early 2023, when strong fundamentals came before a long rally. Ethereum ended 2025 near its long-term average price and well below its peak.
Analysts say supply limits and ongoing network expansion could support a rebound in 2026. However, they caution that the timing of any price recovery remains uncertain despite strong underlying growth.
