The encrypted market is like a world of ice and fire! Bitcoin is soaring while altcoins are receding.

From the surface, it seems that 2025 is a year of prosperity for cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin prices hitting new highs, US President Trump taking a supportive stance on cryptocurrencies, and his family actively involved in the crypto space, along with a highly anticipated key legislation about to be passed in Congress. However, a closer look behind the strong rise in Bitcoin reveals a completely different market situation. The so-called "altcoins," once hailed as challengers to Bitcoin, are facing serious declines, with over $300 billion in market value evaporating so far. This reflects a more widespread market downturn, forcing part of the crypto industry to start facing an issue of "life or death." The initial vision of cryptocurrency investors was an ecosystem with a variety of tokens competing for funds, providing diversified application scenarios. But now, with Bitcoin dominating the market, this vision is giving way to a prediction - most cryptocurrencies will become digital ruins. Nick Philpott, Co-founder of Zodia Markets, said, "I honestly think they (altcoins) are on their way to death. They will slowly wither away. From a technical perspective, many of these tokens will ultimately just be permanently dormant on the chain." According to CoinMarketCap data, Bitcoin's market share in the entire crypto market has increased by 9 percentage points this year, reaching 64%, the highest level since January 2021. At that time, the crypto market was not yet under strict regulation, crypto lending was flourishing but lacked security mechanisms, and NFTs were just emerging. In stark contrast, altcoins are on the decline. An index tracking the latter half of the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market value, the MarketVector index, more than doubled following Trump's victory in the election on November 5, 2024, but has since given back all gains, dropping by about 50% as of 2025. As ETF investors pour most of their funds into Bitcoin, other currencies are gradually being marginalized. Even the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, Ethereum, despite a rebound due to inflow from spot ETFs, is still about 50% lower than its historical high. Jake Ostrovskis, an off-exchange trader at Wintermute, said, "Historically, Bitcoin rises first, and then the rise spreads to altcoins, but we haven't seen this in this cycle." The crypto industry is not unfamiliar with a "mass extinction". During the crypto market crash in 2022, the collapse of the algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD and the bankruptcy of the crypto exchange FTX led to the demise of hundreds of projects. Today, there are still thousands of tokens remaining on their respective blockchains, but with almost no activity, known in the industry as "ghost chains". However, the difference this time is that the crypto industry is gradually becoming a regulated, institution-dominated market, and stablecoins appear to be the only tokens with a real chance of fulfilling a payment function as they eliminate the uncertainty brought by price fluctuations. In just the past year, the market value of stablecoins has grown by $47 billion. Some of the world's largest banks are also entering this field. Additionally, there are reports indicating that Amazon.com, Inc. is exploring the possibility of launching its own stablecoin. This has also forced altcoin projects to seek new positioning strategies to attract a wider range of investors. Kanyi Maqubela, Managing Partner of Kindred Ventures venture capital firm, said, "I've spoken to some projects that are considering merging foundations and handing over governance to other project communities, like 'we can now operate under the governance of another altcoin community'." The shift in institutional behavior also reflects a change in trend. Following Michael Saylor's continued accumulation of Bitcoin through his company Strategy, a new group of Bitcoin accumulators has emerged. In April, a special purpose acquisition company affiliated with Cantor Fitzgerald LP partnered with Tether Holdings SA and SoftBank to establish Twenty One Capital Inc., a Bitcoin startup with nearly $4 billion in funding. The Trump family has also entered the Bitcoin space and raised $2.3 billion through the Trump Media Technology Group to establish a Bitcoin reserve. While there have been similar investment vehicles for accumulating altcoins like Ethereum, Solana, and Binance Coin, their scale is much smaller. It is worth noting that not all altcoins are in decline. Some tokens associated with active DeFi protocols, such as Maker and Hyperliquid, have performed well this year. Jeff Dorman, Chief Investment Officer of the digital asset investment company Arca, said, "There are indeed some parts of the market that are performing exceptionally well, usually companies that have real businesses, real revenue, and use their income to buy back tokens." Optimistic expectations about regulatory prospects are also an important factor. For example, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may approve ETFs backed by tokens like Solana, leading to wider adoption. Another potential catalyst is the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which aims to provide a comprehensive regulatory framework for the crypto market, including clarifying the regulatory responsibilities between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the SEC. Ira Auerbach, an executive at Offchain Labs, said, "The significance of the Clear Act for altcoins may be like ETFs for Bitcoin and Ethereum - it provides regulatory legitimacy for institutional capital to be unleashed." However, he pointed out that ultimately the question boils down to utility. He likened Bitcoin to gold and Ethereum to copper - Bitcoin has a finite supply, while Ethereum's blockchain supports most of the functions of the crypto industry. In contrast, most altcoins are in a gray area, many relying on hype and lacking actual applications. He said, "I think a lot of altcoins will eventually go to zero because they are purely driven by speculation, do not have the mimetic value like Bitcoin, and have not achieved true scale in usability like Ethereum."