VanEck Crypto Monthly Recap For May 2025

Summary Digital assets, especially digital asset equities, outperformed in May as equity capital markets funded 12+ “crypto treasury companies” via SPAC, reverse takeover, IPO, or Secondary. Solana’s SOL token had an admirable month, gaining (+6%) as trading activity returned to the chain. The biggest winner in May amongst SCP tokens was Hyperliquid’s HYPE (+65%). Ethereum ( ETH-USD ) rebounded in May on key upgrades, Solana ( SOL-USD ) gained momentum from institutional treasury moves and protocol changes, while Hyperliquid cemented its dominance in DeFi trading. Digital assets, especially digital asset equities, outperformed in May as equity capital markets funded 12+ “crypto treasury companies” via SPAC, reverse takeover, IPO, or Secondary. Many of these companies then bought Bitcoin or other digital assets, leading to reflexive upside. For the month, the MarketVector Global Digital Assets Equity Index (MVDAPP) rose 19% . The MarketVector Smart Contract Leaders Index (MVSCLE), which tracks the largest and most liquid digital assets, is up 12% . Bitcoin +8% to a record high of $111.8K , vs. the Nasdaq +8% and S&P 500 +5%. Price Returns May (%) YTD (%) Ethereum 39 -23 Coinbase 23 -1 MarketVector Global Digital Assets Equity Index 19 -11 MarketVector Decentralized Finance Leaders Index 13 -50 MarketVector Smart Contract Leaders Index 12 -24 MarketVector Meme Coin Index 8 -42 Bitcoin 8 12 Nasdaq Index 8 2 S&P 500 Index 5 1 MarketVector Infrastructure Application Leaders Index -5 -38 Source: Bloomberg as of 5/31/2025. Index performance is not representative of fund performance. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Not intended as a recommendation to buy or sell any securities named herein. Though BTC punched to a new all-time high, within the Layer 1 ecosystem we track closely, only 14 of the 35 tokens gained in the month. Altcoins were paced by a reanimated Ethereum (+45%) , which re-established a credible narrative for value capture and an improved user experience. ETH’s outperformance resulted in a substantial (+27%) BTC/ETH ratio retracement as it moved from 0.019 to 0.024 over May. Despite this tremendous pullback, ETH/BTC returned to roughly the same levels it traded in mid-March. ETH/BTC Finally Rallies: +27% in May Source: Artemis XYZ as of 6/2/2025. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Not intended as a recommendation to buy or sell any securities named herein. Zooming out, ETH/BTC has been in a downward trend since September 2022 after peaking amid the implementation of EIP-1559, which instilled faith in ETH as a monetary competitor to BTC due to its introduction of deflationary mechanisms. Since that apex in sentiment, however, migration to L2s reduced demand for ETH, causing the asset to become net inflationary. However, May saw a return to the “ETH is money” narrative, this time from institutional treasuries instead of retail podcasters, bringing new credibility and demand. More on Ethereum’s comeback below. Smart Contract Platform (SCP) Fundamentals The MarketVector Smart Contract Leaders Index (MVSCLE) Gained 17% in May but Lagged behind Majors as Long-Tail Altcoins Struggle Despite Gaining 17% In May, MVSCLE Is Outpaced by Majors as Long-Tail Altcoins Underperform Source: MarketVector as of 5/31/2025. The MarketVector Smart Contract Leaders Index (MVSCLE) is designed to track the performance of the largest and most liquid smart contract assets. Index performance is not representative of strategy performance. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Not intended as a recommendation to buy or sell any securities named herein. Daily average DEX Volumes returned in a big way in May and were up (+111%) across all SCPs compared to April’s figures, totaling $502B in May vs $238B in April. The largest contributor to the surge in on-chain trading activity was BNB Chain, which took the top spot from Solana with an average trading volume of $6.4B per day in the month of May. BNB Chain’s total was more than double that of the next best, Solana’s, at $3.0B per day. The large surge in trading activity contributed to the increase of onchain revenues by (+36%) month-to-month. Amongst all SCPs, Hyperliquid seized the top spot and generated more than $2.3M in average daily revenue. Hyperliquid’s topline success in May, with revenues up (+65%) , has been reinforced by a series of new trading products and features launched in May, detailed further below. Ethereum Reawakens and Gains Corporate Treasury Adoption ETH’s performance versus BTC in May came amid the implementation of Ethereum’s long-awaited Pectra upgrade, ecosystem-wide security initiatives, and newfound interest in Ethereum as a treasury asset. The Pectra upgrade, launched on May 7, 2025, marked Ethereum’s largest protocol update since the Merge, incorporating 11 EIPs to boost usability, scalability, and institutional staking. Account abstraction (EIP-7702) allows Externally Owned Accounts to execute smart contract logic, enabling gasless transactions, ERC-20 fee payments, transaction batching, social recovery, and single-step token approvals, simplifying DeFi interactions, cutting gas costs, and easing onboarding by removing the need to hold ETH for gas. Expanded validator limits (EIP-7251) raise the maximum effective balance to 2,048 ETH, reducing institutional staking costs by up to 98% through fewer nodes. Enhanced blob throughput (EIP-7691) and dynamic blob capacity (EIP-7742) increase Layer 2 (L2) scalability by expanding blob capacity, improving data availability, and lowering L2 transaction fees. These upgrades align Ethereum with the needs of complex applications and professional validators. Ethereum’s roadmap now focuses on execution layer improvements, like transaction parallelism and security, to further enhance throughput and DeFi scalability. On May 14, the Ethereum Foundation announced the Trillion Dollar Security Initiative , a multi-pronged effort to elevate Ethereum’s security posture across the stack: UX, wallet security, smart contract security, cloud infrastructure, consensus and protocol security, and more. The initiative aims to build trust at a “civilization-scale,” envisioning billions of individuals comfortably storing $1,000+ onchain, plus public and private institutions storing $1T + inside a single smart contract or application. Its launch reinforces Ethereum’s push to become the credible infrastructure for institutional and sovereign adoption, supported by the $32.6M in ecosystem grants awarded in Q1. This revitalized infrastructure narrative coincided with a wave of institutional interest in ETH, not just as a utility token, but increasingly as a strategic reserve asset. Most striking was Sharplink Gaming ( SBET ), which on May 27th announced an expected $ 425M in private placement proceeds and named Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin as Chairman of the Board (pending closing of the offering), formally adopting ETH as its core reserve asset and pledging to operate validator infrastructure. The stock surged over 400% on the news. Earlier in the month, on May 15 th , French real estate search engine Entreparticuliers.com (Euronext: ALENT) declared its transformation into an “Ethereum Treasury Company”, citing ETH’s commodity status, staking yield, foundational role in DeFi, and institutional adoption. After shifting towards DeFi and RWA tokenization in April, the move further anchored the French company’s corporate strategy in ETH, its stock rallying more than 800% in the days following the announcement. Both Sharplink and Entreparticuliers.com follow BioNexus Gene Lab Corp ( BGLC ), a small Malaysia-based biotech whose March announcement made it the first Nasdaq-listed company to commit to an exclusively ETH treasury strategy publicly. After calling a cyclical bottom expanding its Ethereum holdings in April, on May 14 th , Ethereum infrastructure company BTCS announced agreements to issue up to $57.8M in convertible notes exclusively for ETH purchases, officially adopting an Ethereum treasury strategy likened to MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin treasury strategy. While still nascent compared to BTC or even SOL treasury adoption, the market’s response to these moves may reflect early signs that ETH’s monetary premium is being recognized again by equity markets. Sources: FactSet, Yahoo Finance as of 5/31/2025. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Not intended as a recommendation to buy or sell any securities named herein. Solana’s MicroStrategy Moment and Protocol Overhaul Solana’s SOL token had an admirable month, gaining (+6%) as trading activity returned to the chain. DEX Volumes increased (+41%) from $66.5B to $93.7B as memecoins like WIF (+34%) and SPX (+70%) climbed back to prices not seen since January, possibly reflecting trader optimism for a return to a speculator’s market on the heels of Bitcoin all-time highs. As we noted in April, the first shoots of a “MicroStrategy-for-Solana” movement began to sprout, with several companies publicly declaring SOL as a strategic treasury reserve asset. This early interest grew into a broader trend in May, with DeFi Development Corp expanding its holdings to over 609K SOL (~$107M) , while Upexi surpassed $100M in total exposure by accumulating both spot and locked tokens. DeFi Development Corp also invested part of its SOL treasury into dfdvSOL, a liquid staking token (“LST”) delegated to the company’s own validators. Mirroring other LSTs on Solana and Ethereum enables the company to earn staking rewards while maintaining liquidity. On May 1st, Classover Holdings ( KIDZ ) became the latest publicly traded company to adopt a Solana treasury strategy, announcing a $400 million equity facility to fund the long-term purchase, staking, and validator operation of SOL tokens as part of its core balance sheet strategy. Meanwhile, Sol Strategies (CYFRF), previously Cypherpunk Holdings, bought $18M of Solana tokens with the first tranche of the $500M note announced in April. The company also filed a $1 billion base shelf prospectus in May, signaling its intent to become the most capitalized Solana-native public vehicle to date. This move underscores how equity markets are opening up to SOL exposure in ways that mirror the early Bitcoin treasury era. Solana’s performance in May was also driven by significant protocol upgrades and ecosystem growth, reinforcing its capabilities as a high-performance monolithic blockchain and ambitions for greater institutional applications. The Alpenglow consensus overhaul , proposed on May 19 th by Solana-focused research & development studio Anza, would replace Solana’s legacy consensus mechanisms, Proof of History and Tower BFT, with Votor and Rotor, slashing deterministic finality from 12.8 seconds to 100–150 ms, a ~100x improvement. Such improvements in latency de-risk high-value applications like trading and payments on Solana, underscoring Solana’s ambition to compete for institutional-grade financial services. Echoing Solana’s institutional focus, on May 23, the Solana Attestation Service (SAS) launched , offering verifiable credentials (e.g., KYC, accreditation) at the wallet level. This identification framework enables sophisticated compliance, access control, reputation systems, and identity-based applications to be programmed without revealing sensitive data onchain. On the consumer front, the Solana Seeker smartphone, Solana’s second mobile device, announced shipping in August. The launch introduces the SKR token and TEEPIN (Trusted Execution Environment Platform Infrastructure Network) framework for decentralized app distribution. SKR will power Solana Mobile’s economy, indicating an effort to compete with Helium’s recent success in the mobile network space. Separately, TEEPIN aims to provide decentralized authentication of hardware, software, and network layer integrity so that mobile users can access blockchain-based apps without traditional gatekeepers and fees, such as the Apple App Store’s 30% fees. Solana also became the first non-EVM chain to integrate Chainlink’s CCIP v.16 this month, tapping into simplified cross-chain DeFi applications for $19B+ of eligible cross-chain assets. Sui Rocked by $223M Cetus Exploit Sui's TVL Reached New All-Time Highs Just Before the Cetus Hack Source: Artemis.xyz as of 5/29/2025. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Not intended as a recommendation to buy or sell any securities named herein. On May 22nd, Sui’s largest decentralized exchange, Cetus, suffered a $223M exploit after an attacker used fake tokens to exploit flaws in the Cetus’ smart contracts, draining its liquidity pools. Having just reached an all-time high above $2.1B , Sui’s total value locked (TVL) dropped $590M overnight as users rushed to withdraw capital from the ecosystem. The attacker was able to launder approximately $60M , but Cetus successfully froze $162M of stolen funds by halting the affected smart contracts. These funds remain immobilized on-chain as the protocol works with the Sui Foundation and blockchain security firm OtterSec on a recovery plan. To recover the funds, a Sui governance vote initiated on May 27 th proposed a one-time protocol upgrade to forcibly transfer the frozen assets from the attacker’s wallets to a multi-signature wallet co-managed by Cetus, the Sui Foundation, and OtterSec. It would mark one of the largest “hack-the-hacker” interventions in DeFi history if passed. However, the vote has reignited debates around decentralization and governance-based reversibility, reminiscent of Ethereum’s 2016 DAO hack response. In that case, a vulnerability in the DAO smart contract allowed an attacker to siphon 3.6M ETH, prompting Ethereum developers to initiate a contentious hard fork that reversed the exploit. This act ultimately split the community and gave rise to Ethereum Classic. As in the case of Ethereum versus Ethereum Classic, it appears that the side of the white hat hackers will win. At the time of writing, 90.6% of SUI-denominated votes favor the governance proposal, with most other votes abstaining. Interestingly, Stakefish, a provider of staking services since 2018, voted no on the proposal, drawing criticism on X. At the time of writing, SUI’s price is trading at $3.54 , down 15% from its high of $4.16 on the day of the hack. Sui has recovered ~$225M (15%) of TVL from its post-hack low of ~ $1.5B. May’s Notable Performer: HYPE (+87%) Hyperliquid Achieved 86% of Perps Volume in May; Up from 16% One Year Earlier Source: Artemis XYZ. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Not intended as a recommendation to buy or sell any securities named herein. The biggest winner in May amongst SCP tokens was Hyperliquid’s HYPE (+65%). We discussed Hyperliquid’s potential in our December monthly amid HYPE’s startling price performance of (+154%) in the last month of 2024. Hyperliquid’s journey from a perpetual futures decentralized exchange to a more general-purpose financial chain has been noteworthy for its strong execution. Hyperliquid has been able to translate the high value of its airdrop, now worth >$10B, into a highly successful ecosystem. As liquidity begets liquidity, Hyperliquid’s performance can partially be attributed to its ability to respond to community feedback to drive trading volumes. Hyperliquid added LAUNCHCOIN, a token central to the Believe ecosystem, on May 14th, enabling up to 3x leverage long & short perpetuals on the viral creator token launchpad. Due to popular demand, Hyperliquid also increased leverage limits to 5x on SOPH and NXPC. These new perpetuals markets helped drive Hyperliquid’s record-breaking metrics in the month, with the protocol achieving a record $5.4M in 24h trading fees on May 22nd and all-time high open interest of $8.9B . Perp trading volume on Hyperliquid reached ~$261B in May, an increase of 896% year-over-year from May 2024, driving the platform’s share of perps volume from 16% to 86% over the same period. The addition of native SOL & FARTCOIN deposits, withdrawals, and spot trading further increased the platform’s gravity amongst leading L1 & memecoin assets. The HIP-3 improvement proposal went live on Hyperliquid’s testnet to further grow its ecosystem's reach. By incentivizing the platform’s decentralized userbase to add additional perp trading pairs, the initiative could further advance Hyperliquid’s growth into new markets. Hyperliquid ended the month with the launch of Hyperdrive, a stablecoin money market tailored for its blockchain. Hyperdrive allows users to lend or borrow stablecoins and stake $HYPE, unlocking up to 3x leverage for the yield-bearing HLP tokens, which represent deposits in Hyperliquid’s market-making and liquidation vault, earning a share of the platform’s trading fees. On the regulatory front, Hyperliquid Labs responded to the CFTC’s requests for comment on perpetuals and 24/7 trading. Hyperliquid argues that its L1’s 24/7 trading operations demonstrate DeFi’s well-suitedness to crucial aspects of market operation, and that perpetual derivatives offer valuable use cases when implemented onchain for reasons including their transparency, programmability, and self-custody. As a leading decentralized exchange, Hyperliquid is well-positioned to gain further market share against centralized incumbents like Coinbase if favorable DeFi regulations emerge. Disclosures Index Definitions S&P 500 Index: is widely regarded as the best single gauge of large-cap U.S. equities. The index includes 500 leading companies and covers approximately 80% of available market capitalization. Nasdaq 100 Index: is comprised of 100 of the largest and most innovative non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market based on market capitalization. MarketVector Centralized Exchanges Index: designed to track the performance of assets classified as 'Centralized Exchanges'. MarketVector Decentralized Finance Leaders Index: designed to track the performance of the largest and most liquid decentralized financial assets, and is an investable subset of MarketVector Decentralized Finance Index. MarketVector Media & Entertainment Leaders Index: designed to track the performance of the largest and most liquid media & entertainment assets, and is an investable subset of MarketVector Media & Entertainment Index. MarketVector Smart Contract Leaders Index: designed to track the performance of the largest and most liquid smart contract assets, and is an investable subset of MarketVector Smart Contract Index. MarketVector Infrastructure Application Leaders Index: designed to track the performance of the largest and most liquid infrastructure application assets, and is an investable subset of MarketVector Infrastructure Application Index. MarketVector Digital Assets 100 Large-Cap Index: market cap-weighted index which tracks the performance of the 20 largest digital assets in The MarketVector Digital Assets 100 Index. MarketVector Digital Assets 100 Small-Cap Index: market cap-weighted index which tracks the performance of the 50 smallest digital assets in The MarketVector Digital Assets 100 Index. MarketVector Meme Coin Index: modified market cap-weighted index which tracks the performance of the 6 largest meme coins. Meme coin refers to crypto assets often named after characters, individuals, animals, artworks, or other memetic elements. Initially supported by enthusiastic online traders and communities, these coins are intended for entertainment purposes. Coin Definitions Bitcoin (BTC): The first decentralized cryptocurrency, enabling peer-to-peer transactions without intermediaries, secured through a proof-of-work blockchain. Ethereum (ETH): A smart contract platform that enables decentralized applications (dApp S ) and token issuance. Known for its staking, DeFi ecosystem, and transition to proof-of-stake via Ethereum 2.0. Solana (SOL): A high-performance Layer 1 blockchain optimized for scalability and low transaction costs. Popular for trading, NFTs, and mobile-focused use cases. Hyperliquid (HYPE): A decentralized perpetuals exchange protocol with its own Layer 1 chain. Known for high trading volume, low latency, and aggressive ecosystem development. Sui (SUI): A Layer 1 blockchain developed by former Meta engineers focused on scalability and parallel transaction execution. Hosts the Cetus DEX. Cetus: The largest decentralized exchange on the Sui blockchain, offering liquidity pools and trading services. WIF: A Solana-based memecoin that gained popularity for its speculative value and community-driven appeal. SPX: Another Solana memecoin that surged in May, often associated with speculative cycles and retail enthusiasm. dfdvSOL: A liquid staking token ((LST)) on Solana created by DeFi Development Corp. Allows users to stake SOL while maintaining liquidity. LAUNCHCOIN: A utility token associated with the Believe ecosystem, used on creator token launchpads like Hyperliquid. SOPH / NXPC: Tokens available for perpetuals trading on Hyperliquid with leverage options. Represent creator or niche ecosystem tokens. FARTCOIN: A memecoin mentioned in the context of Hyperliquid’s native asset integrations for deposits, withdrawals, and spot trading. SKR: The native token powering Solana Mobile’s upcoming smartphone economy, linked to app distribution and user incentives. Risk Considerations This is not an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation to buy or sell any of the securities, financial instruments or digital assets mentioned herein. The information presented does not involve the rendering of personalized investment, financial, legal, tax advice, or any call to action. Certain statements contained herein may constitute projections, forecasts and other forward-looking statements, which do not reflect actual results, are for illustrative purposes only, are valid as of the date of this communication, and are subject to change without notice. Actual future performance of any assets or industries mentioned are unknown. Information provided by third party sources are believed to be reliable and have not been independently verified for accuracy or completeness and cannot be guaranteed. VanEck does not guarantee the accuracy of third party data. The information herein represents the opinion of the author(s), but not necessarily those of VanEck or its other employees. Index performance is not representative of fund performance. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. Investments in digital assets and Web3 companies are highly speculative and involve a high degree of risk. These risks include, but are not limited to: the technology is new and many of its uses may be untested; intense competition; slow adoption rates and the potential for product obsolescence; volatility and limited liquidity, including but not limited to, inability to liquidate a position; loss or destruction of key(s) to access accounts or the blockchain; reliance on digital wallets; reliance on unregulated markets and exchanges; reliance on the internet; cybersecurity risks; and the lack of regulation and the potential for new laws and regulation that may be difficult to predict. Moreover, the extent to which Web3 companies or digital assets utilize blockchain technology may vary, and it is possible that even widespread adoption of blockchain technology may not result in a material increase in the value of such companies or digital assets. Digital asset prices are highly volatile, and the value of digital assets, and Web3 companies, can rise or fall dramatically and quickly. If their value goes down, there’s no guarantee that it will rise again. As a result, there is a significant risk of loss of your entire principal investment. Digital assets are not generally backed or supported by any government or central bank and are not covered by FDIC or SIPC insurance. Accounts at digital asset custodians and exchanges are not protected by SPIC and are not FDIC insured. Furthermore, markets and exchanges for digital assets are not regulated with the same controls or customer protections available in traditional equity, option, futures, or foreign exchange investing. Digital assets include, but are not limited to, cryptocurrencies, tokens, NFTs, assets stored or created using blockchain technology, and other Web3 products. Web3 companies include but are not limited to, companies that involve the development, innovation, and/or utilization of blockchain, digital assets, or crypto technologies. All investing is subject to risk, including the possible loss of the money you invest. As with any investment strategy, there is no guarantee that investment objectives will be met and investors may lose money. Diversification does not ensure a profit or protect against a loss in a declining market. Past performance is no guarantee of future performance. © Van Eck Associates Corporation. Original Post Editor's Note: The summary bullets for this article were chosen by Seeking Alpha editors.