Unlocking the encryption new era: A preview of major industry events in 2025

Written by: Lei, Golden Finance

2025 is considered an important year for the cryptocurrency industry as it moves towards maturity and standardization. A series of significant events and technological breakthroughs will drive the market into a new phase, while also having a profound impact on the global financial system. Here are eight key events in the cryptocurrency industry to watch for in 2025, along with their background and implications.

1. Trump’s New Administration Takes Office: A Turning Point for Crypto Market Regulation

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Trump's second term is expected to bring a new direction to financial regulation in the United States, particularly in the policy-making of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The new leadership may adopt a more open and flexible regulatory approach to promote market development.

Background

1. The Advancement of CFTC

• More types of commodity-like cryptocurrencies are to be brought under regulatory oversight: The CFTC may classify more mainstream cryptocurrencies (such as Solana and Polygon) as commodities, clarifying their regulatory framework.
• Promoting the expansion of the crypto derivatives market: The CFTC may accelerate the approval of more crypto futures and options trading, providing institutional investors with a wider range of hedging tools.
• Global Cooperation: Promote compliance and standardization of cross-border transactions by strengthening cooperation with regulatory agencies in other countries.

2. The SEC's Transition

• Expansion of spot ETFs: Following Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs, more mainstream asset ETFs (e.g., Solana, Hedera) may be approved, further driving inflows.
• Stablecoin regulatory framework implemented: Stablecoins may be incorporated into the "payment tool" framework to promote the integration of mainstream payment and settlement systems.

3. Joint Action by CFTC and SEC

• Introduce a unified classification standard for crypto assets.
• Facilitate smoother entry of institutional funds into the cryptocurrency market.

impact

• Improved market transparency: A clear regulatory framework will reduce market uncertainty and attract significant institutional capital.
• Industry reshuffle: Stricter compliance requirements may eliminate some small and medium-sized projects, and the market will develop towards a more concentrated and mature direction.

2. Ethereum Dencun Upgrade and Pectra Technological Innovation

Ethereum will undergo several technological upgrades in 2025, including the full implementation of Danksharding and an upgrade named "Pectra". These technological improvements will significantly enhance Ethereum's scalability and user experience.

Background

• Account Abstraction (EIP-7702): Simplifying user operations and supporting complex decentralized applications (DApp).
• Zero-Knowledge Proof Support (EIP-2537): Enhancing Privacy and Scalability.
• Validator staking limit increased (EIP-7251): Enhancing network efficiency and facilitating institutional participation in staking.
• Data Availability Sampling (PeerDAS): Reducing Layer-2 transaction costs and promoting ecosystem expansion.

Influence

• Attract more developers and users into the Ethereum ecosystem.
• Promote the further development of decentralized finance (DeFi) and the NFT market.

3. Implementation of Global Stablecoin Regulatory Framework

In 2025, the G20 is expected to complete a unified regulatory framework for global stablecoins, which will have a significant impact on the issuance, reserve requirements, and cross-border payment applications of stablecoins.

Background

• Financing Update: In 2024, financing in the stablecoin sector reached $1.86 billion, with Stripe acquiring Bridge Network for $1.1 billion.
• Traditional Institutions Entering the Market: PayPal's PYUSD market capitalization has surpassed $1 billion, promoting the integration of stablecoin payments with traditional payments.
• Regional Regulation: The EU's MiCA regulation and Hong Kong's stablecoin sandbox program will be fully implemented in 2025.

impact

• International payments are accelerating in popularity: stablecoins will play an important role in high-inflation areas and international trade.
• Market size expansion: The market capitalization of stablecoins is expected to exceed $400 billion, becoming the fastest-growing sector in the cryptocurrency field.

4. Deep Integration of AI and Blockchain

The combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain is leading technological innovation, especially in the fields of AI wallets, decentralized AI agents, and AI training networks. By 2025, this integration will give rise to multiple new technologies and applications.

Background

1. Decentralized Autonomous Chatbots (DACs): Blockchain-based AI chatbots can autonomously manage assets and complete complex tasks.

2. AI Wallet: AI agents will support autonomous investment and payment functions.

3. Authentication and Privacy Protection: The combination of AI technology and blockchain ensures the authenticity and privacy of interactions.

4. AI Agent: As a next-generation AI and blockchain protocol, Virtual has promoted the application of AI in the metaverse and Web3 through rapid deployment, autonomous agents, and plug-and-play infrastructure, attracting extensive community participation and investment support. As the world's first chatbot, Eliza has laid the theoretical foundation for human-computer interaction, providing important inspiration and historical accumulation for the logic and function of modern AI agents.

5. Tech giants like Google and Apple launch AI agent products. Decentralized AI networks (such as Fetch.ai) become market hotspots.

influence

• The combination of AI and blockchain helps to lower the technical barriers of Web3, enhance user privacy and security, and promote the integrated development of the virtual economy and the real economy. It is expected that by 2025, more mainstream applications and technological breakthroughs will emerge, leading the industry towards maturity.

5. Global Expansion of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs

The approval of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs has brought capital inflows and mainstream recognition to the crypto market, and more assets may enter the ETF space in 2025.

Background

• Capital inflow: As of December 2024, the management scale of Bitcoin ETFs has exceeded 100 billion USD.
• Expanding to other assets: Multiple institutions have submitted applications for a Solana ETF, including Bitwise, VanEck, 21Shares, and Canary Capital. These applications are primarily focused on submissions in November 2024, with the expected final approval deadline in early August 2025. At the same time, institutions like Canary Capital and Bitwise have submitted applications for a spot XRP ETF to the SEC.

impact

• Accelerated mainstreaming: The popularity of ETFs will enhance market liquidity and transparency.
• More institutions participating: Traditional institutional funds will flood in on a large scale.

6. Breakthroughs in the Tokenization of Real-World Assets (RWA)

Real-world asset tokenization (RWA) achieved significant results in 2024, and the market size may further expand in 2025.

Background

• 2024 Locked-up Volume: The total market value of the RWA market has reached 60 billion USD.
• Major projects: Ondo Finance, Maple Finance, and Centrifuge are driving asset tokenization.
• Market capitalization of stablecoins: As of March 2024, stablecoins, as the largest segment of RWA, have a market capitalization exceeding $150 billion.
• Tokenized financial products: Institutions such as BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and Ondo Finance have launched their own tokenized financial products.

impact

• Market scale breakthrough: RWA locked position is expected to exceed 200 billion USD.
• More asset classes: The tokenization of stocks, real estate, and commodities will accelerate.

7. NFT Renaissance

NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are gradually transforming from initial art collectibles and speculative tools into more practical on-chain tools. By 2025, as blockchain technology develops and the Web3 ecosystem expands, the potential of NFTs in practical applications will be more widely explored.

Background

• Practicality becomes the core driver: NFTs are no longer limited to collectible value, but are gradually integrated into actual application scenarios, such as on-chain identity (DID), in-game assets, memberships, and consumer rewards.
• Emerging markets and cross-border collaboration: Projects like Sofamon are achieving economic value development of digital identity and on-chain wearable devices by combining NFTs with the emoji market.
• Technical and Industry Support: NFTs demonstrate greater technological flexibility in 2024, being used to label, transfer, and evaluate digital assets and real-world assets.

impact

• Promoting the maturity of the Web3 ecosystem: The practical application of NFTs injects new vitality into the Web3 ecosystem. This is achieved through the integration of identity management, membership rights, and cross-industry innovative applications.
• Reshaping the relationship between brands and consumers: The involvement of traditional brands (such as IWC) indicates that NFTs have become an important tool for brands to redefine user experience and brand loyalty.
• Promoting the protection and monetization of intellectual property: Projects like Story Protocol demonstrate that NFTs can serve as an important tool for protecting intellectual property, especially in combating counterfeit products and empowering creators.
• Accelerating the integration of on-chain and off-chain economies: Through the tokenization and evaluation capabilities of NFTs, the connection between crypto assets and the real economy will be closer, providing greater transparency and liquidity for the capital markets.
• The activity and standardization of the investment market: The NFT market in 2025 will be more standardized, and NFTs will no longer be merely speculative tools but an asset class with long-term value support.

8. DeFi 2.0: Capital Efficiency and Compliance Enhancement

DeFi protocols will further evolve by enhancing capital efficiency, introducing on-chain credit, and integrating RWA by 2025.

Background

• DeFi protocols significantly enhanced capital efficiency in 2024 by optimizing capital utilization models through innovative mechanisms. Traditional DeFi protocols (such as Aave and Compound) rely on high collateralization rates, resulting in low capital efficiency, while emerging protocols adopt a Protocol-Owned Liquidity (POL) model, reducing dependence on external capital by holding liquidity pool assets or introducing locking mechanisms. For example, Balancer and Curve's "liquidity locking rewards" significantly improved liquidity stability.
• The introduction of on-chain credit is an important direction for DeFi development in 2024. It assesses credit based on users' on-chain behavior (such as transaction and repayment records), thereby reducing collateral requirements and releasing more capital liquidity. For example, credit scoring protocols like Arcx and Spectral have begun to be applied to multiple lending platforms, while mainstream protocols like Aave and Maple Finance are testing low or no-collateral lending models, bringing new capital release pathways to the DeFi space.
• The consolidation of real-world assets (RWAs) is another highlight of DeFi development in 2024, improving capital efficiency by tokenizing traditional assets such as bonds, real estate, and receivables. For example, MakerDAO added U.S. Treasuries and corporate bonds as collateral, increasing its Dai stablecoin supply by more than 20%. In addition, Ondo Finance focuses on the tokenization of U.S. Treasury bonds, and its lock-up volume exceeded $600 million.
• The innovative token standards HIP-1 and HIP-2 from Hyperliquid enhance the utility and liquidity of tokens. HIP-1 allows users to create fungible tokens directly linked to on-chain spot order books, elevating tokens to specialized financial instruments. Compared to the ERC-20 standard, it ensures instant tradability and high performance, specifically designed for financial assets.

impact

• Capital efficiency improvement: POL and dynamic lending rates will attract more capital inflow, driving the total value locked in DeFi to exceed $300 billion by 2025.
• On-chain credit reshapes lending: The popularization of on-chain credit lowers collateral thresholds, promotes a significant increase in low-collateral lending scale, and attracts more users and funds to participate.
• RWA tokenization expands asset classes.
• Compliance and institutional participation acceleration: The introduction of compliance frameworks attracts institutional funds, promotes the diversified development of DeFi, and strengthens its deep integration with traditional finance.

Summary

2025 will be a year of maturity and diversification for the crypto industry. These major events and trends will jointly promote the standardization, technological innovation, and mainstreaming of the market, while attracting more traditional institutions and retail users to join, and accelerate the deep integration of the crypto industry with the global financial system.