Trade and sunny felt twice as bumpy as bitcoin in 2025, dashing hopes of market maturation beyond the largest cryptocurrency.
Volatility seen over the last 365 days reached 87% for Solana and 80% for XRP compared to the calmer 43% for BTC, according to data tracked by CoinDesk Indices. BNB synchronized at 55% and ether 77%.
Altcoins have tended to be more volatile than bitcoin over the years. Still, the latest data stands out because it shows that exchange-traded funds and other alternative investment vehicles tied to these tokens need to raise greater liquidity to match the BTC cooldown.
With the exception of BNB, the four largest coins by market value (excluding stablecoins) have US-listed CME futures and spot ETFs as proxies for institutional activity.
XRP ETFs have attracted more than $1 billion in investor money since their debut in November, according to data source SoSoValue. The equally nascent SOL ETFs have amassed $763.91 million.
If demand remains strong over the next year, it could curb price volatility, as seen in the case of bitcoin.
Bitcoin spot ETFs, which debuted in January 2024, have attracted $56.96 billion in net inflows to date. This rise has fueled interest in advanced products, such as covered call options on those ETFs, leading to a steady decline in BTC volatility this year.
The same can be said for ether ETFs, which began trading the following July and have seen net inflows of $12.4 billion since their debut in mid-2024.
