This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe. Bitwise summed up last quarter beautifully in one word: “Frustrating.” And it’s true. We entered the quarter naive and bullish, thinking every obstacle had been moved out of the industry’s way and that we were ready to really get working. Oh, how wrong we were. Everyone I speak to still says crypto’s in a better place than it’s ever been. Folks still think what’s being built will one day change the world. But no one can deny that this quarter was a bit of a reality check, meaning that people are still excited about the possibility, but they also understand it’s about putting in the work to grab user attention. How Bitwise’s top 10 index performed last quarter. Bitwise, in its first quarter review, looked at various datapoints across crypto. Some of it will seem familiar — like the datasets on venture capital spending, given that we’ve spoken extensively about how VC activity looked. Other parts gauged how the activity we saw in crypto last quarter translated into data. For example, take a look at daily active addresses. Base is still popping off in terms of dominance, but the volume of active addresses clearly dropped from its peak in the fourth quarter of 2024. Source: Bitwise Now, there’s also a stablecoin chart I want to bring to your attention, and it’s quite a bullish one. And it’s perhaps one of the few datasets in the report that paints a very positive picture despite overall activity at the beginning of the year. You see that, right? Stablecoins outperformed Visa last quarter. Need I say anything more? Even if you’re tired of the stablecoin discourse — and I wouldn’t blame you if you were — it’s a positive sign to see that crypto can go up against traditional payments. And this is the proof. If you’re looking for another dose of positivity, Amberdata found that daily trading volumes seem to be bouncing back after the dip we saw throughout February. “Bitcoin (BTC) volumes—which had slumped below $20 billion/day in early March—have steadily climbed back above $60 billion/day in recent sessions, a level more consistent with early February’s trading environment. Ethereum (ETH) follows a similar trajectory, with volumes rebounding from sub-$12 billion levels in mid-March to ~$26 billion/day, reflecting a broader return of trader interest,” analysts wrote. Source: Amberdata Solana, especially, has seen a boon. It’s bounced back from its lows of $4 billion a day to $9 billion as activity in DeFi picks up. But it’s not alone, both XRP and TRX have also seen a spike.