Author: insights 4.vc

Compiled by: TechFlow

To help you save time and focus on market hotspots, we have carefully compiled over 300 forward-looking predictions for 2025. Each year, top institutions and industry leaders share insights that have a profound impact on the future development of cryptocurrencies. This report brings together the views of ETF issuers, investment funds, research institutions, and market pioneers, providing not only an overall picture of market sentiment, but also practical advice and actionable insights on emerging opportunities.

The five most prominent themes for 2025 are:

• Growth and adoption of Stablecoins

• Tokenization of Real-World Assets (RWAs)

• Expansion of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs

• Convergence of AI and Blockchain

• Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePINs)

1. Growth and Adoption of Stablecoins

Predictions from Blockworks founder Jason Yanowitz and Inversion Capital founder Santiago R Santos

• By 2025, the market capitalization of Stablecoins is expected to account for 10% of the total cryptocurrency market value. This growth may be driven by at least one major bank, tech company, or fintech firm launching a Stablecoin. Entities like BlackRock, Robinhood, and Meta are considered potential participants. Tether is expected to maintain its market-leading position through strategic political relationships, while USDC's market share may decline from the current 20% to around 15% due to new competitors like PayPal. These changes could drive regulatory progress in the US, making Stablecoins a key driver in the payments and e-commerce sectors.

Prediction from 21 shares

• The current market capitalization of Stablecoins has exceeded $170 billion and has made significant progress in the global remittance market, particularly in countries like the Philippines and Turkey. With the proliferation of private credit tokenization, this trend is expected to further enhance capital fluidity and financial transparency. Platforms like Maple Finance, which utilize smart contracts to simplify operations and reduce costs, have become industry leaders. As institutions like Moody's begin to provide ratings for tokenized credit, this sector is expected to become a mainstream asset class by 2025.

2. Tokenization of Real-World Assets (RWAs)

Prediction from Coinbase

• The market for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) is growing rapidly. It is expected to grow 60% by 2024, reaching $13.5 billion, and could further surge to $30 trillion by 2030. Currently, global financial institutions like BlackRock and Franklin Templeton are actively driving the tokenization of government securities. Tokenized assets are becoming an important collateral in the DeFi ecosystem.

Prediction from Pantera Capital managing partner Paul Veradittakit

• This year, RWAs grew 60% to $13.7 billion, with 70% being private credit and the rest being Treasuries and commodities. Capital inflows are accelerating, and more complex tokenized asset types are expected to emerge by 2025.

• Private Credit: With improved infrastructure, Figure added $4 billion in tokenized credit in 2024. More companies are bringing capital into the crypto space through private credit.

• Treasuries and Commodities: The current on-chain Treasury size is $2.67 billion, while the off-chain size remains in the trillions of dollars. Treasuries offer better yields than Stablecoins. BlackRock's BUIDL fund has $500 million on-chain, while the off-chain size is in the hundreds of billions. DeFi pools have started integrating Treasuries, reducing user adoption barriers.

3. Expansion of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs

Predictions from Bloomberg ETF experts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart

• The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the first 11 Bitcoin spot ETFs on January 10, 2024, and then approved an Ethereum spot ETF on July 23, 2024. This approval marks a gradual easing of the regulatory environment and lays the foundation for the launch of Altcoin ETFs. The emergence of Altcoin ETFs could further enhance market liquidity and lower the entry barrier for crypto investments.

• The assets under management of Bitcoin ETFs are expected to surpass Gold ETFs by 2025. Currently, Bitcoin ETFs have $110 billion in assets, while Gold ETFs have $128 billion. The rapid growth of Bitcoin ETFs suggests this trend may be realized earlier than expected.

• If the SEC leadership leans more towards liberalism, they may approve Altcoin ETFs including XRP, Solana (SOL), and Hedera (HBAR) in the future, further diversifying the range of cryptocurrency investment products.

If you would like to learn more about Bitcoin spot ETFs, we recommend referring to our article published last month: Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs Surpass Gold ETFs. Here are the ETF data as of January 8, 2025:

On-chain holdings of Bitcoin spot ETFs (Source: The Block)

Bitcoin ETF fund flows

Bitcoin ETF trading volume

Ethereum ETF fund flows

Prediction from Bitwise

Bitcoin ETF inflows are expected to surpass the 2024 record of $33.6 billion in 2025. This growth is primarily driven by the involvement of large brokerages like Morgan Stanley and Bank of America, which will provide more investment channels for their clients. With increasing investor confidence and Bitcoin's allocation becoming mainstream in portfolios, ETF inflows are expected to accelerate further, a trend similar to the development of Gold ETFs over the past decades.

4. Convergence of AI and Blockchain

Prediction from Vaneck

• By 2025, the number of AI Agents is expected to exceed 1 million. These AI Agents will significantly drive the growth of on-chain activities, not only optimizing DeFi yields but also automating various tasks and enabling interactions in gaming and social media. Platforms like Virtuals Protocol are actively driving the development of AI technology, expanding the application of AI Agents from finance to gaming and marketing, generating significant revenue and enhancing user engagement.

Prediction from Dragonfly Capital partner Haseeb Qureshi

• AI Agents will widely adopt Stablecoins for peer-to-peer transactions, especially as Stablecoin regulations become more relaxed. This trend will also extend to large enterprises, which will use Stablecoins to replace traditional banking systems, achieving greater flexibility and efficiency.

• Decentralized AI training and inference will see rapid growth, driven by projects like ExoLabs, NousResearch, and PrimeIntellect, providing new alternatives to the current centralized AI models. NEAR Protocol is working to build a fully permissionless AI technology stack, making development and deployment more open.

5. Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePINs)

Prediction from Multicoin Capital

Prediction from Framework Ventures co-founder Vence Spencer