Crypto companies are trying to leave the hype cycle for a more disciplined phase, earnings show

Key points

• A screen showing the price of various cryptocurrencies against the US dollar displayed at a Crypto Panda cryptocurrency store in Hong Kong, China, on Monday, Feb.
• 3, 2025. Crypto companies spent years monetizing volatility, but now, they're trying to survive without it.
• First-quarter earnings underscored that crypto's era of easy moonshots and hype-driven returns is fading.
• As lower bitcoin and ether prices drained speculative demand – and investors pulled back from risk assets broadly amid macro uncertainty – trading activity across exchanges cooled and retail participation faded.
• The slowdown showed up in public companies' quarterly updates, with exchanges, brokers and crypto financial firms reporting weaker transaction and staking revenue and softer client activity.