CoinMarketCap’s Q2 2025 report has revealed a shift in the crypto landscape, with market interest moving away from hype-driven tokens toward core infrastructure.

Meme coin and AI token activity has slowed down, while attention turned to stablecoins, real-world assets (RWAs), payments, and platforms like Hyperliquid.

A Shift Toward Fundamentals

The research shows stablecoins recorded a combined market cap of $247.9 billion. USD1 experienced the biggest jump, rising from $57 million to $2.2 billion. This growth was driven by its Binance listing, a $2 billion investment from MGX, and strong trading activity on PancakeSwap.

Meanwhile, USDT strengthened its lead with a $14.1 billion increase in market cap, with USDC and PYUSD also experiencing gains during the quarter. USDC rose by $1.3 billion, boosted by renewed investor interest following Circle’s IPO. PYUSD, on the other hand, continued its upward trend with 28.5% growth compared to the previous quarter, moving slowly toward the $1 billion mark.

RWAs also saw a surge. As of June 29, more than 88% of tokenized assets were concentrated in just two categories: private credit at just over 58%, and U.S. Treasury debt at 30%.

The $10 billion worth of assets in the private credit segment mainly come from Figure’s activity on the Provenance blockchain. On the other hand, tokenized U.S. treasuries totaled $7.38 billion and have become key to on-chain liquidity strategies. According to the report, BlackRock’s BUIDL fund captured nearly 39% of this market segment.

Elsewhere, Hyperliquid achieved a major milestone in Q2, with $1.57 trillion traded in the past 12 months and over $300 million in revenue. In Q2 alone, the platform handled $648 billion in trading volume, taking more than 60% of the perpetual DEX market and performing 10 times better than its next competitor.

Several factors supported this growth. The HYPE airdrop and fair point system increased activity in the last two months of 2024. Hyperliquid’s interface and API also kept traders engaged, while deep liquidity and consistent arbitrage opportunities helped create a loyal user base.

Additionally, high-profile traders like James Wynn further created interest, and the platform’s buyback and burn mechanism for the HYPE token helped sustain price strength.

A Maturing Market

For the first time in six quarters, U.S. user share on CoinMarketCap increased from 18.9% to 21.7%. This was mainly due to spot Bitcoin ETF developments, Circle’s IPO, and clearer regulations attracting institutions and retail customers. The region now leads global traffic growth, which analysts see as a sign of a maturing investor base.

CMC’s data also shows that at the start of 2025, the market was mainly fueled by viral meme coins like Mubarak and Virtuals. However, by Q2, attention shifted toward more foundational sectors like RWAs and stablecoins. The report cites this as further evidence of an evolving landscape, where infrastructure is now taking center stage as short-term trends lose momentum.