Crypto posted three consecutive quarters of negative returns through Q2, but prediction markets, tokenized RWAs, and stablecoins hit record volumes.
DeFi & Yields ·
The Bitwise 10 Large Cap Crypto Index declined 15.4% during the second quarter, with eight of its ten holdings posting losses, while spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced their worst quarter for outflows on record. The index performance marks the third consecutive quarterly decline for crypto, extending the longest negative streak since 2022.
Despite the retreat in major assets, several crypto subsectors achieved notable growth. Prediction market volume reached a record $43.2 billion, tokenized real-world assets surged 50.3% year to date to reach $32.89 billion, and stablecoin settlement volume climbed to 2.3 times Visa's equivalent throughput.
The mixed signals reflect underlying strength in specific infrastructure and use cases even amid broad-based price pressure. On-chain metrics show Ethereum transaction activity approximately 13 times higher than prior bear-market levels, decentralized finance total value locked up more than 60%, and stablecoin assets under management roughly doubled from 2022 lows—suggesting developer and user engagement has not retreated with valuations.