Grayscale Foresees Historic Altcoin Dominance in 2025 as Bitcoin Lags

The crypto market is poised for a paradigm shift in Q3 2025, with Grayscale's latest report forecasting an unprecedented altcoin season that defies historical patterns. Bitcoin's typical market leadership faded as diverse crypto sectors—from AI tokens to financial applications—outperformed, fueled by a $3.5 trillion multi-sector ecosystem.

Stablecoins gained regulatory tailwinds from new U.S. legislation while centralized and decentralized exchanges saw surging volumes. Despite declining Core blockchain metrics like user activity and memecoin speculation, application fees rose 28%, suggesting maturation beyond speculative trading.

Grayscale's FTSE Russell-collaborated framework identified 261 tokens across six sectors, highlighting the industry's evolution from monolithic to modular value propositions. This divergence marks a maturation phase where utility, not just store-of-value narratives, drives capital flows.