Title: Big Ideas from a16z: Top Projects to Watch in 2025
Author: Stacy Muur
Translator: Scof, ChainCatcher
The end of the year is one of my favorite times, as the top minds in the Web3 industry begin to share their high-confidence thoughts and predictions for 2025. This is an exciting moment to map out the potential of the crypto industry in the coming year. Earlier this month, a16z crypto released its 2025 Big Ideas list. Which protocols have already established themselves in these key areas? Let's explore this new publication.
This time, I want to focus on the article published by a16z crypto: "A16Z's 2025 Crypto Trends Outlook".
Core Idea #1: AI Agents Managing Wallets
In short, AI agents have demonstrated the ability to trade independently and be fully autonomous. There are many emerging use cases in this area, where AI agents can take on new roles in Web3, participating in transactions, investments, bridging, and the realization of other intents.
The projects I'm focusing on in this area include:
- NEAR Protocol: NEAR is positioning itself as the "AI blockchain". Recently, they have launched some important initiatives including Near AI and Near Intents. NEAR has already built significant influence in the industry and is poised to be a leader in this area by 2025.
- Fetch.ai: Fetch.ai is a platform for the AI economy, providing tools to build, deploy, and monetize AI services. Its ASI wallet can integrate Fetch's best-in-class AI capabilities and advancements, potentially becoming the first implementation of AI integrated with a wallet.
- Armor Wallet: Armor Wallet is an AI-driven crypto wallet and trading assistant, supporting cross-chain transactions and rapid execution of complex trades. It's worth noting that Armor Wallet is still in relatively early development.
- Coin98 Super Wallet: Coin98 launched their AI wallet with an AI assistant in late November, which can recommend tools and simplify complex tasks, while supporting natural human interaction.
Core Idea #2: Enhancing Information Aggregation
This concept revolves around new mechanisms based on prediction markets, aiming to more effectively aggregate information and enhance decision-making processes across various domains.
This is a relatively new idea, and for more on this area, I recommend reading the Delphi Digital report "Markets Will Save the World".
My watchlist:
- MetaDAO: MetaDAO is the first project to implement Futarchy (future governance) at scale within a DAO. Futarchy is a governance system that combines prediction markets and democratic voting, aiming to drive decision-making based on the market's trading outcomes.
- Futarchy: The Futarchy concept is similar to MetaDAO, emphasizing governance through markets and reflecting the potential impact of various policy options on token value.
Core Idea #3: Widespread Stablecoin Adoption
This idea focuses on the increasing adoption of stablecoins, with stablecoin trading volume already surpassing Visa, MasterCard, and PayPal. This shift will benefit many market participants, including stablecoin issuers, crypto card companies, and crypto merchant services.
To better illustrate the stablecoin ecosystem, here is an ecosystem map from the aforementioned research. Consider adding these projects to your watchlist.
In my view, it is particularly important in this area to emphasize the infrastructure that can facilitate the growing transaction volumes, which will be the primary beneficiaries of widespread stablecoin adoption.
In addition to TRON (as a well-known USDT transfer engine), a protocol worth watching is Noble. This emerging project is focused on developing liquidity infrastructure to help asset issuers participate in the cross-chain economy.
Core Idea #4: Modularizing Everything
Modularity is not new, but a16z believes that more modular solutions will see mainstream adoption next year. The following areas are worth watching:
- RaaS (Rollup-as-a-Service): Gelato, Caldera, AltLayer, Conduit, Bison Labs.
- Interoperability: Hyperlane, Polyhedra, Omni.
- Shared Ordering: Espresso, Radius, Zellular.
- Privacy: Nillion, Brevis, Automata, Fhenix, zkMe.
- Intents: Anoma, Aori, Native.
- Storage: Arweave, Storj, Filecoin, Zus.
- Oracles: Pyth, RedStone, Supra, Chainlink.
The focus on infrastructure solutions remains crucial for 2025.
Core Idea #5: Seamless User Experience
This is one of the trends I consider the strongest. Chain Abstraction has been a hot topic this year, and we are finally approaching the realization of abstracting user experiences, not just a concept.
Here's a great Chain Abstraction diagram from The Defiant:
These projects are all worth watching, but I particularly want to highlight Particle, which is the one I'm most excited about. Their recently launched "Universal Accounts" allow users to seamlessly transact assets across any chain through UniversalX.
Another project worth watching in this area is Everclear, which is the primary clearing layer for Web3. As the solver economy required for chain abstraction expands, solvers need to rebalance assets across different chains, and Everclear is the most cost-effective driver of this process.
Core Idea #6: Crypto App Stores
The original a16z report mentioned some notable crypto app store developers, including the Telegram app on TON, Alchemy, Solana's mobile dApp store (Seeker), and Worldcoin's mobile app.
I also want to recommend a few more projects: Glue, DeFi App, and VeBetter.
Core Idea #7: Tokenizing Everything
Tokenization is a broad topic, especially regarding the tokenization of "unconventional" assets. Here are some projects worth watching:
- Kaito AI: Tokenizing influence (attention economy).
- GAIB: Providing an economic layer for the AI-driven future, through tokenizing enterprise-grade GPUs.
- Compute Labs: Competing with GAIB by fractionalizing GPU ownership.
- ShopX: Tokenizing goods and products (RWA in e-commerce).
- Eaas: Tokenizing carbon footprint.
- AI Agents and DeSci: High-risk, frontier hype projects like Dolz (tokenizing porn stars), PsyDAO (tokenizing psychedelic science and art), Molecule (a protocol for tokenizing biopharmaceutical IP).
These projects bring more innovative possibilities to the crypto world and are worth keeping an eye on.
