Written by: Lei, Golden Finance

2025 is considered an important year for the encryption industry to mature and standardize. A series of major events and technological breakthroughs will push the market into a new stage and have a profound impact on the global financial system. The following are eight major events in the encryption industry worth paying attention to in 2025, along with their background and impact.

1. Trump’s new team takes office: a turning point in crypto market regulation

Trump’s second term is expected to bring a new direction to US financial regulation, especially on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The new leadership team may adopt a more open and flexible regulatory attitude to promote market development.

Background

1. CFTC’s advancement

More commodity crypto-assets will be included in the regulatory scope: The CFTC may classify more mainstream crypto-assets (such as Solana and Polygon) as commodities, clarifying its regulatory framework.

Promote the expansion of the crypto derivatives market: The CFTC may accelerate the approval of more crypto futures and options transactions to provide institutional investors with a wider range of hedging tools.

Global cooperation: Promote compliance and standardization of cross-border transactions by strengthening cooperation with other regulatory agencies.

2. Changes in SEC

Expansion of spot ETFs: Following the Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs, more mainstream asset ETFs (such as Solana, Hedera) may be approved, further promoting capital inflows.

Implementation of the stablecoin regulatory framework: Stablecoins may be included in the "payment instrument" framework to promote the integration of mainstream payment and settlement systems.

3. Joint action by CFTC and SEC

To launch a unified classification standard for crypto assets.

Promote institutional funds to enter the crypto market more smoothly.

Impact

Improved market transparency: A clear regulatory framework will reduce market uncertainty and attract large amounts of institutional capital.

Industry reshuffle: Stricter compliance requirements may eliminate some small and medium-sized projects, and the market will develop in a more concentrated and mature direction.

2. Ethereum Dencun Upgrade and Pectra Technology Innovation

Ethereum will usher in a number of technology upgrades in 2025, including the full implementation of Danksharding and an upgrade called "Pectra". These technical improvements will significantly enhance Ethereum’s scalability and user experience.

Background

Account abstraction (EIP-7702): Simplifies user operations and supports complex decentralized applications (DApps).

Zero-knowledge proof support (EIP-2537): Improved privacy and scalability.

Increase the staking limit of validators (EIP-7251): Improve network efficiency and facilitate institutions to participate in staking.

Data Availability Sampling (PeerDAS): Reduce Layer-2 transaction costs promote ecological expansion.

Impact

Attract more developers and users into the Ethereum ecosystem.

Promote the further development of decentralized finance (DeFi) and NFT markets.

3. Implementation of the 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 dynamics: Financing in the stablecoin field will reach US$1.86 billion in 2024, of which Stripe acquired Bridge Network for US$1.1 billion.

Traditional institutions have entered the game: PayPal’s PYUSD market value has exceeded US$1 billion, promoting the integration of stable currency payments and traditional payments.

Regional regulation: The EU’s MiCA regulations and Hong Kong’s stablecoin sandbox plan will be fully implemented in 2025.

Impact

Accelerating popularity of international payments: Stable coins will play an important role in high-inflation areas and international trade.

Market scale expansion: The market value of stablecoins is expected to exceed US$400 billion, becoming the fastest growing track in the encryption 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. In 2025, this integration will give rise to a number of 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 agent will support independent investment and payment functions.

3. Identity verification and privacy protection: AI technology is combined with blockchain to ensure the authenticity and privacy of interactions.

4. AI Agent: As a new generation of AI and blockchain protocols, Virtual promotes 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 laid the theoretical foundation for human-computer interaction and provided important inspiration and historical accumulation for the logic and functions of modern AI agents.

5. Technology giants such as Google and Apple launch AI agent products. Decentralized AI networks (such as Fetch.ai) have become a hot spot in the market.

Impact

The combination of AI and blockchain will help lower the technical threshold of Web3, enhance user privacy and security, and at the same time promote the integrated development of virtual economy and real economy. It is expected that By 2025, more mainstream applications and technological breakthroughs will be produced, leading the industry to mature.

5. Global Expansion of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs

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

Background

Fund inflows: As of December 2024, the Bitcoin ETF management scale has exceeded US$100 billion.

Expanding to other assets: Several institutions have submitted applications for the Solana ETF, including Bitwise, VanEck, 21Shares and Canary Capital. These applications will mainly be submitted in November 2024, and the final approval deadline is expected to be in early August 2025. At the same time, institutions such as Canary Capital and Bitwise have submitted applications for spot XRP ETFs to the SEC.

Impact

Acceleration of mainstreaming: The popularity of ETFs will enhance market liquidity and transparency.

More institutional participation: Traditional institutional funds will influx in large numbers.

6. Breakthrough in the tokenization of real world assets (RWA)

The tokenization of real world assets (RWA) has achieved remarkable results in 2024, and the market size may further expand in 2025.

Background

Lock-up volume in 2024: The total RWA market value has reached US$60 billion.

Main projects: Ondo Finance, Maple Finance and Centrifuge promote assets on the chain.

Stablecoin market value: As of March 2024, stablecoins, as the largest sector of RWA, have a market value of more than $150 billion.

Tokenized financial products: Institutions such as BlackRock, Franklin Templeton and Ondo Finance have launched their own tokenized financial products.

Impact

Market size breakthrough: RWA lock-up volume is expected to exceed 200 billion US dollars.

More asset classes: Tokenization will accelerate including stocks, real estate and commodities.

7. NFT Renaissance

NFT (non-fungible tokens) are gradually transforming from their original art collections and speculation tools into more practical on-chain tools. In 2025, with the development of blockchain technology and the expansion of the Web3 ecosystem, the potential of NFT in practical applications will be more widely explored

Background

Practice becomes the core driver : NFT is no longer limited to collection value, but is gradually integrated into practical application scenarios, such as on-chain identity (DID), in-game assets, membership and consumer rewards.

Emerging markets and cross-border cooperation: Projects such as Sofamon realize the economic value development of digital identities and wearable devices on the chain by combining NFT with the emoji market.

Technical and industry support: NFT will show higher technical flexibility in 2024 and be used to mark, transfer and evaluate digital assets and realityassets.

Impact

Promote the maturity of the Web3 ecosystem: The practical implementation of NFT injects new vitality into the Web3 ecosystem. By integrating identity management, member benefits and innovative applications across industries.

Reshaping the relationship between brands and consumers: The addition of traditional brands (such as IWC) shows that NFT has become an important tool for brands to redefine user experience and brand loyalty.

Promote the protection and monetization of intellectual property: Projects like Story Protocol show that NFT can be an important tool for intellectual property protection, especially in combating counterfeit products and empowering creators.

Accelerate the integration of on-chain and off-chain economies: Through the tokenization and evaluation capabilities of NFT, crypto assets will be more closely connected with the real economy, providing higher transparency and liquidity for the capital market.

Activity and standardization of the investment market: The NFT market in 2025 will be more standardized. NFT is no longer a simple speculative tool, but an asset class with long-term value support.

8. DeFi 2.0: Improved Capital Efficiency and Compliance

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

Background

DeFi protocols will significantly promote the improvement of capital efficiency in 2024 and optimize the capital utilization model through innovative mechanisms. Traditional DeFi protocols (such as Aave, Compound) rely on high mortgage rate mechanisms, resulting in low capital efficiency, while emerging protocols adopt the Protocol-Owned Liquidity (POL) model, by holding liquidity pool assets or introducing Locking mechanisms to reduce dependence on external capital, such as Balancer and Curve’s “liquidity locking rewards” significantly improve liquidity stability.

The introduction of on-chain credit is an important direction for the development of DeFi in 2024. Credit is evaluated through user on-chain behaviors (such as transactions and repayment records), thereby reducing mortgage requirements and releasing more liquidity. For example, credit scoring protocols such as Arcx and Spectral have begun to be used on multiple lending platforms, while mainstream protocols such as Aave and Maple Finance are testing low-collateral or unsecured lending models, bringing new capital release paths to the DeFi field.

The integration of real world assets (RWA) is another highlight of DeFi development in 2024, improving capital efficiency by tokenizing traditional assets such as bonds, real estate and accounts receivable. For example, MakerDAO added U.S. Treasury 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 locked-up volume has exceeded US$600 million.

Hyperliquid’s innovative token standards HIP-1 and HIP-2Enhanced the utility and liquidity of the token, HIP-1 allows users to create fungible tokens directly linked to the on-chain spot order book, elevating the token into a specialized financial instrument. Ensures instant tradability and high performance compared to the ERC-20 standard, specifically designed for financial assets.

Impact

Improving capital efficiency: POL and dynamic lending rates will attract more capital inflows, pushing the total value of DeFi locked positions to exceed US$300 billion in 2025.

Credit on the chain reshapes lending: The popularization of credit on the chain lowers the mortgage threshold, promotes the doubling of the scale of low-mortgage lending, and attracts more users and capital participation.

RWA tokenization expands asset classes.

Compliance and institutional participation are accelerated: The introduction of a compliance framework attracts institutional funds, promotes the diversified development of DeFi, and strengthens its deep integration with traditional finance.

Summary

2025 will be the year when the encryption industry matures and diversifies. These major events and trends will jointly promote market standardization, technological innovation and mainstreaming, while attracting more traditional institutions and retail users to join, accelerating the deep integration of the encryption industry with the global financial system.