The crypto market posted a split week, with Bitcoin ending up 1.6 percent as Layer 2s, real-world assets and the on-chain treasury trade ground lower.
DePIN and crypto gaming bucked that trend, drawing capital flows that diverged from the broader market and posting their first sustained strength after a difficult stretch.
CoinGecko's 2025 year-end report puts the reversal in context: RWAs led all crypto sectors that year with a 185.76 percent gain, while both Gaming and DePIN fell more than 75 percent.
DePIN is showing signs of bottoming, driven by real-world adoption and measurable revenue generation rather than speculative interest.
Crypto gaming's 2025 collapse traced back to its dependence on speculative NFTs and unproven revenue models. Macroeconomic shocks—including that year's tariff announcements—triggered broad market selloffs that hit these assets hardest.
RWA and L2 tokens, despite their strong 2025 run, saw choppy flows this week. Tokenized government bonds, the core of the on-chain treasury trade, added to the drag on those segments.
Capital is rotating on sector-specific fundamentals, fragmenting a market that had previously moved in tighter correlation.
