I recently saw CoinGecko’s Q1 industry data, and the market has indeed entered a “winter” mode. The total cryptocurrency market cap is down by nearly 45% from last October’s peak; it fell 20.4% just in the first quarter, and now it’s only $2.4 trillion. Looking at these numbers is a bit heart-wrenching.

The most gut-punching part is trading volume. The spot trading volume on centralized exchanges was cut straight in half, down 39%; in March, it even hit a new low at just $0.8 trillion. Bitcoin also dropped 22% alongside the stock market, but interestingly, crude oil actually rose 76.9% against the trend—looks like commodity traders have been pretty active in this round of market action.

CoinGecko’s report also mentions a detail: the USDT supply is actually declining, the first time since 2022. The stablecoin market cap has been stuck at $309.9 billion and hasn’t moved. In addition, Solana’s share of DEX trading volume is still solidly at 30% or more, and on Hyperliquid, commodity traders also account for three-tenths—suggesting that some people are looking for new trading opportunities. In the short term, the market may still have to trade sideways.