The cryptocurrency market in 2025 was marked by increased institutionalization and regulation, but the anticipated “altcoin season” failed to materialize. Instead, the market became more selective, with only a handful of tokens managing to outperform despite the overall slump. Bitcoin (BTC) reached new highs early in the cycle, but the rest of the market lagged behind, with the total market cap of altcoins down over 46% in 2025, according to TradingView data.
Despite the challenging market conditions, some tokens managed to shine, including XRP (XRP), Zcash (ZEC), and Algorand (ALGO). These tokens gained momentum due to various factors such as regulatory developments, renewed interest in financial privacy, and real-world tokenization efforts. 
BTC and others, year-to-date chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
XRP’s Regulatory Breakthrough
XRP was one of the top performers in 2025, with its price rising over 35% in July to hit a one-year high of $3.60 on July 23. This significant gain was largely attributed to increasing regulatory clarity, including the resolution of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) lawsuit against Ripple Labs. 
Weekly XRP/USD chart year-to-date. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
According to Alex Davis, founder and CEO of blockchain ecosystem Mavryk Dynamics, the market is shifting towards assets that regulators can classify, institutions can model, and compliance teams can approve. XRP fits this profile better than most altcoins, which helped it gain traction. The debut of exchange-traded fund (ETF) Canary Capital also contributed to XRP’s outperformance, with $756 million in positive net inflows in the first eleven days of trading.
Zcash’s Privacy Focus
Zcash (ZEC) was another notable performer, with its price rising over 12-fold from a one-year low of $48 to a high of $744 on November 7. This surge was driven by renewed interest in privacy-focused cryptocurrencies as regulators tightened oversight of transactions and identity. 
ZEC/USD year-to-date chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
According to Narek Gevorgyan, founder and CEO of crypto portfolio management platform CoinStats, the demand for financial confidentiality amid increasing surveillance in the digital economy contributed to Zcash’s outperformance. The recent momentum is also due to structural factors, including stricter know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) rules for exchanges and renewed interest from institutions and developers in zero-knowledge technologies.
Algorand’s Real-World Applications
Algorand (ALGO) also showed promise, with its price rising about 48% in three weeks, from $0.33 at the end of December 2024 to a yearly high of $0.49 on January 17. This growth was driven by the platform’s real-world integrations, including a partnership with Enel Group to allow Italian residents to purchase fractional shares of Enel’s solar farms and wind turbines via tokenized Energy Utility Tokens. 
ALGO/USD chart for the current year. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
According to Lacie Zhang, market analyst at Bitget Wallet, Algorand’s real-world integrations position the chain well for long-term relevance. However, the poor annual performance reflects a broader structural trend rather than project-specific weakness, with macroeconomic headwinds and the continued dominance of Bitcoin affecting the altcoin sector.
A New Era for Altcoins
The cryptocurrency market in 2025 was characterized by a selective and fundamentals-driven approach, with projects needing a strong underlying utility to gain traction. As the market continues to mature, it’s likely that we’ll see a shift towards more pragmatic and utility-driven adoption. For more information, visit https://cointelegraph.com/news/xrp-zcash-algorand-outperformed-2025-altcoin-slump?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss_tag_altcoin&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound
