2025 Cryptocurrency Major Events Recap: Trump Policies, 1.4 Billion Hackers, Bitcoin New High

2025 is the most turbulent year in cryptocurrency history, with the Trump administration promoting Bitcoin strategic reserves, pardoning Silk Road founder, signing stablecoin legislation, and more. On the market side, Bitcoin reached a historic high of $126,000 before experiencing $20 billion in liquidations, CEX was hacked for $1.4 billion in the largest hacker incident in history, and MicroStrategy accumulated over 3% of the Bitcoin supply. These major events mark a critical turning point as the crypto industry shifts from the fringes to the mainstream.

Policy Revolution: Trump Administration Reshapes Crypto Regulation Landscape

The most influential change in 2025 comes from the White House. On January 21, just one day after taking office, Trump pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ubricht, fulfilling a campaign promise and sending a strong signal to the Bitcoin community. This symbolic act set the tone for a series of pro-crypto policies. On March 6, Trump signed an executive order establishing the US Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, composed of approximately 200,000 BTC confiscated by federal authorities, and directed the Treasury Secretary to develop a budget-neutral buyback strategy. Senator Cynthia Lummis then proposed a bill to purchase 1 million BTC over five years, which, although still pending in Congress, has sparked discussions among global central banks about Bitcoin reserves.

In July, the House advanced the GENIUS stablecoin bill and the Clarity crypto market structure bill. Trump subsequently signed the GENIUS bill, providing the US with its first stablecoin regulatory framework. These legislative breakthroughs are the first major reforms in crypto regulation in years, with the Clarity bill already submitted to the Senate, aiming for a full vote in early 2026. In March, the Senate voted 70-28 to repeal late-stage IRS rules from the Biden administration, which required DeFi front-end operators to collect user data like traditional brokers—an important victory for privacy and innovation.

In September, new SEC Chair Gary Gensler approved new listing standards for exchanges, reducing the crypto ETF approval window from 240 days to as short as 75 days. Subsequently, spot ETFs for Solana, Litecoin, Ripple, Dogecoin, and HBAR were launched. In August, the SEC and Ripple withdrew their appeal, ending a multi-year lawsuit and upholding Judge Torres’ 2023 ruling—retail XRP transactions do not constitute securities, but institutional sales do. This victory brought regulatory clarity to Ripple, with CEO Brad Garlinghouse stating that the US will no longer adopt the adversarial stance of Gensler’s era.

Market Turmoil: Largest Liquidation and Hacker Incidents in History

October 6 saw Bitcoin hit a record high of about $126,000, but just days later, the market experienced the largest deleveraging event in history, with at least $20 billion in positions liquidated within hours. Binance was at the center of the storm, with USDe, BNSOL, and WBETH sharply depegging during the crash. Binance paid $283 million in compensation to users. The exchange attributed the plunge of tokens like ATOM and IOTX to limit orders and liquidity shortages from years ago, promising structural adjustments to the pricing index. The impact of this liquidation persisted until the end of the year, severely damaging market confidence.

In February, CEX experienced the largest exchange hack in history, where hackers tricked multi-signature signers into approving malicious contract changes, stealing over $1.4 billion worth of ETH from Ethereum cold wallets—far surpassing previous attacks on Coincheck, Mt. Gox, and FTX. The thieves quickly dispersed ETH and liquidity-staked tokens into dozens of new addresses and DEXs. Researchers estimate about 75% of user ETH deposits were stolen. Despite the unprecedented losses, the CEX emphasized it remains fully solvent, but the incident highlighted the ongoing security risks of centralized exchanges.

Top 3 Security and Market Events of 2025

CEX Hacker: $1.4 billion stolen, largest exchange attack, multi-signature mechanism vulnerability exposed

$20 billion Liquidation: October deleveraging event, Binance paid $283 million, liquidity crisis revealed

Bitcoin New High and Crash: Peak at $126,000 followed by sharp decline, volatility severely damaged market confidence

Whale Movements: Sleepers Awakening and Institutional Buying Frenzy

In 2025, Bitcoin prices repeatedly hit new highs, activating long-dormant whales. In July, Galaxy Digital sold over 80,000 BTC to an investor from the Satoshi era, worth over $9 billion, fulfilling client estate planning needs. In September, another veteran whale significantly transferred BTC and ETH. The wallet initially held over $5 billion in BTC, accumulating nearly $4 billion in ETH within weeks. These 14-year dormant wallets awakened, selling billions of dollars worth of assets, creating massive selling pressure that offset ETF and DAT demand.

Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen’s related addresses transferred 50 million XRP in seven days, about $140 million, to exchanges when XRP hit a record high of $3.65. On-chain detective ZachXBT pointed out that Larsen-related wallets still control about 2.81 billion XRP, worth nearly $9 billion, highlighting the high concentration of supply among early Ripple insiders.

Conversely, MicroStrategy continued aggressive accumulation of Bitcoin throughout the year, holding over 21 million BTC, representing 3% of the total supply. Currently, it holds 671,268 BTC. However, the suspension of its regular weekly purchase plan in July marked the peak of the DAT company frenzy. Although the number of Bitcoin treasury companies has increased to about 200, most stocks have fallen sharply from summer highs. MicroStrategy’s common stock has declined 64% so far, with its market value below net asset value—meaning the company’s value is less than the worth of its Bitcoin holdings.

Meme Coin Drama and Market Speculation Frenzy

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy boasted to 3.5 million followers about a series of highly volatile meme coin trades, triggering a strong backlash. Some accused him of selling to retail investors, as the tokens he promoted surged to eight figures before crashing. He then promoted a new meme coin JAILSTOOL, purchasing over 50 million tokens, claiming transparency. Critics pointed out his chaotic history of crypto promotion. From Trump’s official TRUMP token to Argentine leader meme coins, 2025 saw continuous meme coin controversies, highlighting the dangerous combination of speculation and regulatory vacuum.