VeChain (VET) experienced a significant downturn in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to a January 28 report from Messari. The token’s market capitalization fell 52.1% quarter-over-quarter, dropping from $1.9 billion in Q3 to $894.7 million by the end of Q4.
Source: Messari
VET’s price mirrored this decline, closing the quarter at $0.010, down from $0.022 in the previous three months.
This slump caused VET to rank as the 63rd largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Another token that experienced a significant drop was the gas token of VeChainThor, VTHO.
The market value of VTHO declined by 51.0% quarter over quarter to $73 million, from $148.8 million in Q3, while its price declined by 52.4% to $0.00075. The decline in VET and VTHO reflected the overall decline in market activity.
VeChainThor Onchain Activity Slows Sharply in Q4
The VeChainThor blockchain experienced a slowdown in Q4. The average daily active addresses decreased by 56.8% from 62,800 to 27,100, and the transaction clauses decreased by 27.7% to 267,500 per day.
Source: Messari
The daily transaction fees also decreased significantly, by 42.1% in VTHO terms to 422,800 and by 65.9% in USD value to $473.
The larger decrease in USD value reflects the impact of the price decrease of VTHO on the revenue of the VeChainThor blockchain. VeChainThor remained committed to efficiency despite the slowdown.
Its transactions include the use of clauses that allow multiple actions to occur in a single transaction, which maintains low gas prices. Gas consumption on EVM decreased by 43.7% from the previous quarter to 32.6 billion gas units per day, and inherent gas consumption decreased by 38.4% to 8.1 billion.
The network reduced CO₂ emissions by 41.8%, emitting approximately 2.4 tonnes in the quarter, which is the annual energy consumption of 269 gallons of gasoline.
Source: Messari
DeFi Sector Pulls Back, but Annual Growth Holds
VeChainThor’s DeFi ecosystem grew at a slower pace after a period of rapid growth. The total value locked (TVL) decreased by 66% quarter over quarter to $2.1 million, down from $6.1 million in Q3.
Source: Messari
VeDelegate remained the leading protocol with a 73.2% market share, although its TVL decreased by 68% to $1.5 million. BetterSwap’s TVL increased by 145.6% year over year to $351,500.
Other protocols, such as Vexchange, VeRocket, and TurtleSwap, lost more than 50% of their TVL. VeChain’s DeFi industry has remained positive throughout the year.
The total TVL is up 124.9% from Q4 2024. This indicates that the market conditions have affected the activity levels, but the adoption levels are still rising.
Also Read: VeChain Bulls in Action: VET Set to Hit $0.0202 and Beyond!
