Industry experts say Bitcoin saw groundbreaking growth last year, but other areas of the crypto market will perform even better in 2025.

Bitcoin trading has been in a sideways range in recent weeks, and traders are looking for new catalysts to push Bitcoin higher. Analysts and commentators say altcoins (any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin) are expected to rebound this year due to Trump's promise to reduce regulation of digital assets.

Bitcoin surged 116% in 2024, thanks to people's enthusiasm for events such as spot Bitcoin ETF approval, halving events, and Trump's election victory.

Bitcoin broke through the 0.1 million dollar mark and rose 51% in just one month. Altcoins have similarly surged, with Ethereum up 59%, and other coins such as XRP, Solana, and Tron showing strong growth.

However, after tough remarks from the Federal Reserve, Bitcoin's gains have slowed, while other cryptocurrencies have shown signs of continuing to rise.

The Federal Reserve's tough stance triggered widespread sell-off in the US stock market after the rebound in November last year, and Bitcoin was not spared, falling about 15% from its peak in the last two weeks of this year. According to data collected by Bloomberg, after Federal Reserve officials issued new interest rate guidelines, dollar spot ETFs also experienced huge outflows of capital, losing a record $0.68 billion on the same day.

Citibank analysts said in a Monday report: “Given that Ethereum is the only major cryptocurrency (other than Bitcoin) approved as the basis for spot ETFs, it could be a rotating target.”

Other cryptocurrencies are performing even better, and their share of the overall cryptocurrency market capitalization is growing. Citibank added that respondents to a recent survey believe that altcoins will perform particularly well in 2025.

“The performance of other cryptocurrencies and altcoins is even more meaningful, indicating that some market participants expect 2025 to usher in a 'cottage season' after a strong year for Bitcoin,” the analyst said.

Experts say that the different trends in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies stem from differences in fundamental factors affecting these two segments of the market.

Bitcoin has relatively solid regulatory support, including futures contracts, ETFs, options, etc. As a result, Andrew Baehr (Andrew Baehr) of CoinDesk Indices said that any increase in Bitcoin's price is the result of people's greater enthusiasm for Bitcoin's widespread adoption.

But altcoins occupy a relatively grey area and have been the target of the SEC for years.

As a result, favorable crypto regulation prospects will be the main driver of altcoin price movements in 2025. The token XRP, which has been the focus of SEC lawsuits in recent years, rose sharply after Trump's victory and rose again after US Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gensler announced that he would resign after Trump took office.

Bell said more crypto projects will come online as the market generally expects the SEC to relax regulations in 2025. Decentralized projects powered by stablecoins will require blockchain to run, and Ethereum has become a possible candidate.

Citibank analysts say the new policy support will help solidify the legitimacy of altcoins in the market and may push up prices.

Citibank analysts said, “Bitcoin is classified as a commodity, and there are already 'traditional financial' trading tools such as spot ETFs and futures. In contrast, other crypto assets are more uncertain in definition, and the range of investment options is more limited.”

The analyst added that further policy support would provide a huge boost to the altcoin compared to Bitcoin.