Top Takeaways from Binance Research's Monthly Report Covering February 2025

This blog summarizes the findings of the recent Binance Research report discussing key developments in crypto markets over the past month.

February saw the cryptocurrency market decline by 20.2%, largely driven by the largest digital hack in history. Bybit suffered losses exceeding $1.5 billion in a Lazarus Group-led phishing attack. This heist was executed via the theft of ETH from Bybit’s multisig cold wallet, rendering it the biggest digital theft to date. Moreover, broader bearish sentiment in global financial markets, particularly impacting the memecoin sector with the fallout of $LIBRA and diminished confidence in high-profile backers, contributed to the downturn.

As the fifth-largest digital currency exchange, Bybit is a significant player in the crypto industry. The scale of the hack is a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities that still exist in the rapidly evolving digital asset landscape. Lazarus Group, known for its ties to North Korea and previous involvement in high-profile cyberattacks, including the 2017 Wannacry ransomware attack, has become increasingly active in recent times.

This incident highlights the pressing need for robust cybersecurity measures and cooperation in detecting and preventing such malicious activities within the cryptocurrency industry.

Monthly crypto market capitalization

decreased by 20.2% in February

Source: CoinGeckoAs of February 28, 2025

Monthly price performance of the top 10 coins by market capitalization

Source: CoinMarketCapAs of February 28, 2025

While Tron’s TRX declined by 2.7%, the network announced a major update: starting in March, USDT transactions will be ‘Gas Free’. This allows USDT to cover transaction costs, removing the need for TRX payments and propelling Tron’s Q4 2024 plan to simplify stablecoin transfers. With $824M in USDT and USDC inflows on Tron and over $2B in revenue last year, Tron’s scalability continues to grow.

Meanwhile, BNB dropped by 4.6%, but BNB Chain unveiled its 2025 roadmap focused on mass adoption, aiming for sub-second block times, AI-driven smart wallets, and a goal of processing 100 million transactions daily.

BTC fell sharply by 16.0%, largely driven by broader equity market weakness and a lack of catalysts to sustain momentum. Extreme volatility hit between February 24-26, with nearly $3B in liquidations marking Bitcoin’s largest price drop since FTX’s collapse in 2022. This downturn was exacerbated by tightening fiat liquidity conditions and delays in the Trump administration’s prospective national BTC reserve.

SUI and XRP saw declines of 17.6% and 19.2% respectively, as investors rotated liquidity into stablecoins amid market uncertainty.

ETH plunged by 20%, impacted by the record-breaking $1.5 billion Bybit hack and a sharp decline in gas fees — now at 98.5% lower than last year’s peak as users shifted to alternative L1s like Solana. Despite this, Ethereum saw a threefold increase in daily contract deployments since February 1, signaling renewed developer activity. However, ADA (-23.8%), LINK (-33.6%), DOGE (-33.7%), and SOL (-39%) were among the biggest losers. Solana, in particular, suffered from uncertainty around its 11.2 million token unlock and the LIBRA memecoin fallout. Its TVL plummeted by over 30% to its lowest level since November 2024, as traders bridged nearly $500M to Ethereum, Sonic, and Arbitrum.

Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

In February 2025, DeFi’s Total Value Locked (TVL) decreased by 14.6%, reflecting broader market turbulence. A major regulatory shift occurred as the U.S. SEC withdrew its appeal against a Texas federal court ruling that struck down its broker-dealer rule, which would have classified DeFi platforms and liquidity providers as securities dealers. This rule would have imposed stringent KYC, AML, and other compliance requirements on a broad range of institutions, but its removal signals a regulatory reprieve for the DeFi sector.

The stablecoin market cap increased by 3.5% to $224.9B, with stablecoin dominance rising by 1.4%. This shift suggests that investors are moving liquidity into stable assets, likely as a precautionary measure amid market uncertainty.

Solana’s TVL experienced a significant 30% decline, reaching its lowest level since November 2024. This plummet was closely tied to the collapse in memecoin activity. Data from Dune Analytics showed that memecoin trading volume on Pump.fun decreased by 74.5% in a single day (February 24), with most tokens losing 80–90% of their value. Among the top 10 largest blockchains by DeFi TVL, only BNB Chain