The latest on-chain data from Presto Research shows that November 2025 brought a broad slowdown across the cryptocurrency economy, with active users, total value locked (TVL), protocol fees, and decentralized exchange (DEX) volumes all declining at the same time.
The decline comes in a month already marked by volatile market volatility, adding new signs that user engagement remains weak even as institutional interest in Bitcoin grows.
Adoption metrics show widespread weakness in November
According to Presto’s research, the same three chains, Tron, BNB Chain, and Solana, continue to operate dominate Active users for seven consecutive months, with TRON once again taking the top spot.
A similar pattern emerged in the TVL network and protocol. The company stressed that price pressure across the market has reduced the dollar-denominated value of locked assets, with Bera Chain’s TVL falling by more than half during the month.
Many well-known DeFi platforms have also seen their TVL values shrink as token prices decline and user activity slows. Both Sui and Sonic saw a drop of over 40%, with Avalanche down nearly 30%.
However, not all metrics paint a bleak picture. Stablecoin balances on Ethereum rose by more than $1.5 billion, according to the Bristow report, and the chain also led in venture capital, raising more than $200 million.
However, these pockets of power are outweighed by diminished activity elsewhere. Solana, Ethereum, and Base, typically among the highest fee-generating networks, saw the largest declines in monthly fees, indicating a noticeable slowdown in transactions. Live trading volumes tell the same story, with Uniswap recording the largest monthly decline at over $500 million, followed by Curve’s decline of around $300 million.
This contraction came during a turbulent week for the markets. Earlier in the month, Bitcoin briefly fell below $84,000 before rebounding to around $92,000 at the time of writing.
Analysts like CoinCare have done just that linked A futures buying rush rebounded after Vanguard approved trading for several spot cryptocurrency ETFs, calling the shift the strongest buy-side futures activity since early 2023.
Aggregate power, institutional interest, and user decline
Even as conditions improved in stocks and gold, cryptocurrency markets spent early December wrestling with lower inflows, prompting Jeff Dorman, IT director at Arca, to… describes The downturn is “one of the strangest crypto sell-offs ever,” citing the absence of pressures from interest rates or fears from stablecoins. Instead, he said, the original crypto traders appear to have been depleted while new capital has been slow to emerge.
This background could provide context to the weak on-chain picture in November. Despite growing institutional participation, amplified by the access of millions of Vanguard clients to the ETF, retail and DeFi participation has not kept up the pace.
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