In-Depth Breakdown of CoinGecko’s 2025 Annual Report: DeFi, NFTs, and the Shifting Landscape of On-Chain Capital Flows

1. Introduction

The annual cryptocurrency report for 2025 recently released by Coingecko provides a clear annual panorama for the entire crypto ecosystem. Compared to traditional summaries that emphasize the industry’s “ups or downs”, this report focuses more on structural changes: which sectors are truly generating value? Which tracks are consolidating? Which funds are migrating? This is more valuable for investors than short-term price fluctuations.

Although the cryptocurrency market in 2025 has experienced a pullback from its peak, on-chain activity, stablecoin usage, perpetual trading, and the utilization of DeFi tools remain at high levels, indicating that the industry has shifted from solely relying on market conditions to a more complex ecosystem-driven approach.

2. Decentralized Finance 2025: TVL declines but users are more active

The report indicates that the total value locked (TVL) in DeFi will slightly decline in 2025 compared to last year, but the number of active users continues to grow. The underlying reason for this “decline in TVL + increase in activity” is not contradictory:

• The decline in asset prices has lowered the TVL value.
• Users are increasingly relying on tools such as lending, perpetual contracts, and yield aggregators.
• The focus has shifted from “pursuing high returns” to “capital efficiency and risk control.”

In 2025, Decentralized Finance will present two trends:

Trend 1: Multi-chain strategy becomes mainstream

Users are increasingly migrating between multiple chains such as Ethereum L2, Solana, BSC, and Base, seeking lower fees and higher strategy efficiency.

Trend 2: The use of stablecoins drives changes in the composition of TVL.

As the total market capitalization of stablecoins reaches a historic high (increasing by 48.9%), the underlying funds of DeFi are gradually dominated by stablecoins rather than high-volatility assets.

Decentralized Finance is no longer a “tool for huge profits,” but has transformed into the foundational financial layer of the crypto ecosystem.

3. NFT Market Structure Restructuring: From Bubble to Functionalization

In 2025, the overall trading volume of the NFT market will decline, but structural opportunities will be more evident.

• The speculative bubble has significantly receded.
• Growth of in-game assets, tickets, and brand equity NFTs
• Cross-chain NFT and ZK identity-type NFT are gradually maturing.

The report emphasizes that 2025 will be the turning point when the practical value of NFTs exceeds the speculative value.

For example:

• Equipment NFTs from Web3 game distribution have become a main source of trading.
• Physical brands use NFT as a membership system or points tool.
• ZK Identity Credentials (ZKID, SBT) Accelerate Implementation

NFT is transitioning from “collectibles” to “digital asset certificates”, which is more important than price fluctuations.

4. Layer 2 Expansion: Scalability technology drives transaction growth

In 2025, the Layer 2 ecosystem continues to thrive:

• Ethereum L2 transaction volume and active addresses hit a new high
• The gap between Optimistic Rollup and ZK Rollup ecosystems is narrowing.
• Base, Arbitrum, Blast and other L2 user growth is significant.

These data indicate two core trends:

Trend 1: L2 has become the real battleground for users. With the rise in mainnet fees, most users are migrating their daily transactions to L2.

Trend 2: L2 is not just a “scalability tool” but a new starting point for ecosystems, with more and more applications choosing to launch directly on L2 instead of the Ethereum mainnet.

This migration trend makes on-chain transactions cheaper and faster, and has also driven the rapid growth of perpetual trading and stablecoin circulation.

5. On-chain capital flow and changes in user behavior

The report particularly emphasizes three key changes in user behavior:

Funds are more dispersed

Compared to the “single-chain congestion” from 2021 to 2023, funding is now more inclined towards multi-chain deployment to reduce risk.

From simply pursuing high returns → more focus on safety

For example, indicators such as clearing risk, protocol sustainability, and protocol revenue models are receiving more attention from users.

Small-scale high-frequency trading has significantly increased.

This is closely related to the decrease in L2 transaction fees and the rise of perpetual trading.

These behavioral changes indicate that users across the entire industry are maturing.

6. Investment Strategy Adjustment after Price Fluctuation

In 2025, the price fluctuated wildly, especially after Bitcoin reached its historical high in October and then significantly retreated, ending the year with a slight decline. However, the report noted that trading activity did not decrease, indicating:

• Invest more diversely
• Institutional investors continue to accumulate BTC and ETH.
• Retail and professional traders rely more on perpetual trading and stablecoin hedging.

Therefore, the market is in a state of “trading without reduction, asset valuation correction.”

A more rational investment strategy in 2026 may focus on:

• Long-term investment in BTC/ETH
• Stablecoin Yield Strategy
• L2 ecological assets
• Practical NFT and on-chain identity system
• Multi-chain arbitrage and cross-chain stablecoin liquidity strategies

This is entirely different from the behavior of chasing trends in 2021.

7. Key Risks Suggested by the Report

Although the content of the report is relatively neutral, the implied risks cannot be ignored:

• High-leverage perpetual contracts may trigger another chain liquidation.
• The expansion of stablecoins brings systemic competitive risks.
• The security of multi-chain bridges remains a weak link.
• Over-reliance on L2 may cause an imbalance in ecological resources.
• Macroeconomic and policy signals may still trigger significant fluctuations.

Investors should remain cautious.

8. Possible breakthroughs in the crypto ecosystem in the coming year

According to data trends from Coingecko, the following breakthroughs may occur in 2026:

• Commercial Landing of ZK Identity Credentials
• AI × Blockchain applications are moving towards practicality.
• on-chain derivatives scale continues to grow
• L2 ecosystem further differentiates: the strong are always strong
• Real World Assets (RWA) explosion

These areas all have long-term structural value.

9. Conclusion

From the Coingecko 2025 annual report, it can be seen that the crypto industry has moved from solely relying on price increases to a stage of structural optimization, user maturity, and ecological expansion. Although the market has experienced fluctuations, on-chain activity, institutional participation, and the speed of technological innovation are all accelerating.

The cryptocurrency industry in 2026 will no longer be a celebration of a single track, but rather a long-term competitive landscape characterized by multiple dimensions, multiple chains, and multiple application scenarios.