The encryption market enters the institutional era: new opportunities under regulation and a capital frenzy.

The encryption market has bid farewell to the chaotic era, and institutional funds are becoming the new dominant force, bringing unprecedented changes and opportunities.

Since the beginning of this year, the encryption market's total market capitalization has grown by 9.9%, adding more than $600 billion in value. The U.S. spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs have attracted over $28 billion in net inflows, becoming the main driving force in the cryptocurrency market.

The stablecoin market size has expanded to $277.8 billion, with a year-on-year growth of over 35%. The corporate Bitcoin holdings have also reached an all-time high, with 174 companies holding a total of 1.07 million BTC, accounting for approximately 5.4% of the circulating supply.

01 Market Trends: Institutional Funds Dominate New Cycle

The cryptocurrency market in 2025 is fundamentally different from the past. The market structure has shifted from retail speculation to being driven by institutional capital. Behind the total market capitalization of over $380 billion is the large-scale entry of institutional funds.

Bitcoin dominance increased from about 40% at the beginning of the year to 65.1%. This growth mainly stems from ETF demand, corporate treasury reserves, and institutional allocation.

Traditional financial giants like BlackRock and Fidelity have become the main providers of Bitcoin ETFs, and these products continue to attract record inflows of capital.

02 Bitcoin and Ethereum: The Dual Giants Perform Excellently

Bitcoin and Ethereum performed exceptionally well in 2025, both reaching historic highs. Bitcoin's price exceeded $110,000, while Ethereum also surpassed $4,800.

Bitcoin exhibits a unique dual attribute, serving as both a macroeconomic hedge and a short-term risk asset. Meanwhile, Ethereum has achieved an annual growth rate of 36% thanks to its strong ecosystem and staking mechanism, outperforming even Bitcoin.

The amount of Ethereum staking has reached a record 35.8 million ETH, accounting for approximately 29.7% of the total supply. This is mainly attributed to the updated technology of Pectra and the increased acceptance by institutions.

03 Policies and Regulations: The United States Leads Global Encryption Regulation

In terms of policies and regulations, 2025 has seen a major breakthrough. The United States has passed milestone legislation, including the GENIUS Act (focused on stablecoins) and the CLARITY Act (focused on asset classification).

These bills establish a codified framework that replaces years of temporary enforcement actions. The CLARITY Act defines assets such as Bitcoin as commodities, placing them under the jurisdiction of the CFTC, which allows trustees to legally hold these assets.

Regulatory clarity has opened the green light for institutional product development. The creation of regulated products such as ETFs, in turn, injects hundreds of billions of dollars in institutional funds into the ecosystem.

04 Federal Reserve Policies and Geopolitics: The Dual Catalysts Affecting the Market

The encryption market is at a critical moment in September 2025, influenced by both the Federal Reserve's interest rate policy and geopolitical developments. The Federal Reserve is expected to cut rates by 25 basis points in September, with a probability as high as 86%.

The expectation of interest rate cuts has begun to affect market behavior. If the cuts are realized, Bitcoin may test $125,000, while the Ethereum ecosystem may gain a larger share of capital rotation.

In terms of geopolitics, the progress of the Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations also helps to lower risk premiums, potentially stabilizing energy prices and easing inflationary pressures.

05 Token Unlocking and Market Supply: $4.5 Billion Unlocking Pressure in September

The market is facing short-term challenges, with $4.5 billion worth of tokens set to be unlocked in September. These unlocks come from multiple projects, including Sui, Aptos, and Arbitrum.

Sui is the largest contributor unlocking in September, planning to release tokens worth over $153 million. Currently, only 35.1% of the Sui supply has been unlocked, meaning that the majority of the tokens remain in reserve.

Fasttoken, Aptos, and Arbitrum will each release approximately $90 million, $50 million, and $48 million worth of tokens, respectively. Other projects such as Starknet, Sei, Immutable, and ZK will also release millions of dollars in tokens.

06 Technical Innovation and Infrastructure: Significant Improvement in Blockchain Performance

In terms of technological innovation, significant progress was also made in 2025. The Solana community approved the Alpenglow upgrade with nearly 99% of the votes in favor.

This technological improvement reduces the final confirmation time of transactions from 12.8 seconds to just 150 milliseconds, potentially matching Visa's processing speed while maintaining decentralization features. The upgrade is scheduled for deployment in 2026 and represents an important infrastructure milestone.

Decentralized exchanges (DEX) have also made significant progress, with the ratio of DEX to centralized exchanges (CEX) reaching record levels in 2025. The market share of DEX in spot trading peaked at 23.1%, while in futures trading it reached 9.3%.

07 Risks and Challenges: Market Volatility and Regulatory Uncertainty

Despite the optimistic outlook, the encryption market still faces risks and challenges. Market volatility remains significant, and a recent market fluctuation led to over 400 million USD in liquidations across the entire network within 24 hours, with more than 130,000 people liquidated.

The "World Liberty Token" (WLFI) supported by the Trump family plummeted by 34% after its listing, indicating that even highly publicized projects carry significant risks.

Regulatory uncertainty still exists. The independence of the Federal Reserve is being questioned, as President Trump fired Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, marking the first time in over a century that a president has dismissed a governor.

08 Investment Perspective: How to Respond to the Current Market Environment

For investors, the current market is filled with opportunities as well as risks. Institutional experts recommend focusing on encryption assets with the following characteristics: an established market capitalization of over $10 billion and deep global liquidity; at least having experienced one major bear market and the resilience to recover to new highs.

Institutional validation is also very important, including significant adoption by institutions through direct holdings, inclusion in ETFs, or as a foundational layer of financial products. At the same time, assets with clear non-speculative use cases should be chosen, addressing real-world problems or providing unique value propositions.

A diversified investment portfolio is also a key strategy. Do not put all your funds into a single asset; consider a mixed investment in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and some promising altcoins.

As of early September 2025, the price of Bitcoin remains above $111,000, while the trading price of Ethereum is around $4,330.

The total market value of encryption remains above $3.8 trillion, demonstrating resilience amid market uncertainty. Gold has also reached a historic high of $3,600, reflecting a broader market risk-averse sentiment.

Market attention is now focused on the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision on September 17, which will be a potential opportunity for a rate cut for the first time in years. Analysts predict that if a rate cut occurs, Bitcoin could test the $125,000 mark. #非农就业数据来袭 #今日你看涨还是看跌？ #九月份加密市场能否突破