The year 2025 was a rollercoaster ride for investors across the stock market, cryptocurrency world, and commodities like gold and silver. Markets started off shaky, with the S&P 500 coming close to entering a bear market. But things turned around later in the year, and by December, U.S. stocks and metals were soaring. Bitcoin, on the other hand, had a rough time and ended the year lower.

Here’s how the numbers looked: the S&P 500 climbed 17%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 gained 21%, and the Dow Jones rose 14%. Big names stood out — Nvidia jumped an impressive 40%, and gold shot up a massive 66%. But Bitcoin dropped 6% overall, after a wild ride that impacted risk sentiment throughout the year.

At the start of the year, Donald Trump and Melania Trump launched their own cryptocurrency tokens ahead of the inauguration. This raised eyebrows over potential conflicts of interest and sparked a wave of meme coin hype. The hype didn’t last — Trump’s token ($Trump) crashed over 90% from its high, while Melania’s token ($Melania) fell by about 98%.

Tech investors were also shaken when a Chinese AI company called DeepSeek appeared to rival top U.S. artificial intelligence models. This news caused panic in markets, wiping out nearly $1 trillion in U.S. tech stock value in just one day. It raised fresh concerns about whether big tech companies were spending too much on AI without clear returns.

Cryptocurrencies took a big hit following the excitement around Trump being called the “crypto president.” Bitcoin fell sharply — down 28% from around $106,000 in late January to $75,000 by early April. Ethereum dropped even more, losing about 60% of its value from earlier highs.

Stocks were rocked again when Trump introduced new trade policies in April, calling them “Liberation Day” tariffs. These included a universal 10% tariff and retaliatory measures against several countries. The S&P 500 dropped 12% in just a few days, falling as much as 19% below its mid-February high at one point.

Tesla had a rough start to the year but bounced back after Elon Musk said he would step away from government roles. Later, Musk and Trump exchanged comments online — Musk admitted he may have gone too far in his posts, and Trump responded positively. This helped stabilize Tesla’s stock.

Meanwhile, Nvidia continued to soar to new heights in market value. Commodities also had a strong year — gold, silver, and copper all hit record prices, driven by investor demand for safe-haven assets amid global uncertainty.

In summary, 2025 tested everyone’s patience — from Wall Street to crypto investors — with sharp ups and downs. But while tech stocks and crypto faced big challenges, metals and select stocks like Nvidia delivered big wins.