Unlocking the Encryption New Era: A Preview of Major Industry Events in 2025

Written by: Lei, Golden Finance

The year 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 having a profound impact on the global financial system. Below are the eight major events in the cryptocurrency industry to watch for in 2025, along with their background and impact.

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

Trump's second term is expected to bring a new direction to financial regulation in the United States, particularly in the policymaking 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 the CFTC

• More commodity-type cryptocurrencies to be included in the regulatory scope: 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 broader range of hedging tools.
• Global Cooperation: Promote compliance and standardization of cross-border transactions by strengthening cooperation with regulatory authorities in other countries.

2. The SEC's Transition

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

3. Joint Action of CFTC and SEC

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

Influence

• Improved market transparency: A clear regulatory framework will reduce market uncertainty and attract large amounts of institutional capital.
• Industry Shuffle: 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 called "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 increase (EIP-7251): Enhancing network efficiency and facilitating institutional participation in staking.
• Data Availability Sampling (PeerDAS): Reducing Layer-2 transaction costs and promoting ecosystem expansion.

impact

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

3. Global Regulatory Framework for Stablecoins Implementation

In 2025, the G20 is expected to complete a global regulatory framework for 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 value 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.

influence

• International payment acceleration: Stablecoins will play an important role in high inflation areas and international trade.
• Market scale expansion: The market value of stablecoins is expected to surpass $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 perform complex tasks.

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

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

4. AI Agent: Virtual, as a new generation of AI and blockchain protocol, promotes the application of AI in the metaverse and Web3 through rapid deployment, autonomous agents, and plug-and-play infrastructure, attracting widespread community participation and investment support. Meanwhile, Eliza, as the world's first chatbot, 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. Tech giants like Google and Apple have launched AI agent products. Decentralized AI networks (such as Fetch.ai) have become market hotspots.

influence

• The combination of AI and blockchain helps to lower the technical barriers of Web3, enhance user privacy and security, while promoting the integrated development of the virtual economy and the real economy. It is expected that by 2025, it will give rise to more mainstream applications and technological breakthroughs, 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.
• Expansion to other assets: Several institutions have submitted applications for Solana ETFs, including Bitwise, VanEck, 21Shares, and Canary Capital. These applications are primarily focused on submissions made in November 2024, with the final approval deadline expected in early August 2025. At the same time, institutions such as Canary Capital and Bitwise have submitted applications for a spot XRP ETF to the SEC.

influence

• Acceleration of Mainstream Adoption: The proliferation of ETFs will enhance market liquidity and transparency.
• More institutions participating: Traditional institutional funds will pour in on a large scale.

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

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

Background

• The locked amount in 2024: The total value of the RWA market has reached 60 billion USD.
• Major projects: Ondo Finance, Maple Finance, and Centrifuge are driving asset tokenization.
• Stablecoin Market Value: As of March 2024, stablecoins, as the largest segment of RWA, have a market value exceeding $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 locked assets are expected to exceed $200 billion.
• More asset classes: The tokenization of stocks, real estate, and commodities will accelerate.

7. NFT Renaissance

NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are gradually transitioning from their initial role as art collectibles and speculative tools to more practical on-chain tools. By 2025, with the development of blockchain technology and the expansion of the Web3 ecosystem, 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 real-world applications, such as on-chain identity (DID), in-game assets, membership qualifications, and consumer rewards.
• Emerging Markets and Cross-Border Cooperation: Projects like Sofamon are achieving the economic value development of digital identities and on-chain wearable devices by combining NFTs with the emoji market.
• Technology and Industry Support: NFTs are showing greater technological flexibility in 2024, being used to label, transfer, and evaluate digital assets and real-world assets.

influence

• Promoting the maturity of the Web3 ecosystem: The practical application of NFTs injects new vitality into the Web3 ecosystem. By integrating identity management, membership rights, and innovative applications across industries.
• 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 become 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 valuation capabilities of NFTs, the connection between crypto assets and the real economy will become closer, providing greater transparency and liquidity for the capital market.
• 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 rather an asset class with long-term value support.

8. DeFi 2.0: Enhancing 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 significantly enhanced capital efficiency in 2024 by optimizing capital utilization patterns through innovative mechanisms. Traditional DeFi protocols (such as Aave and Compound) rely on high collateralization mechanisms, resulting in low capital efficiency, whereas emerging protocols adopt a Protocol-Owned Liquidity (POL) model, reducing reliance on external capital by holding liquidity pool assets or introducing locking mechanisms. For instance, the "liquidity locking rewards" of Balancer and Curve significantly improved liquidity stability.
• The introduction of on-chain credit is an important direction for the development of DeFi in 2024, which evaluates credit through users' on-chain behavior, such as transaction and repayment records, thereby reducing collateral requirements and releasing more liquidity. For example, credit scoring protocols such as Arcx and Spectral have begun to be applied to multiple lending platforms, while mainstream protocols such as Aave and Maple Finance are testing low- or uncollateralized lending models, bringing new capital release paths to the DeFi space.
• The integration of Real World Assets (RWA) is another highlight of DeFi development in 2024, enhancing capital efficiency by tokenizing traditional assets such as bonds, real estate, and accounts receivable. For example, MakerDAO has added U.S. Treasury bonds and corporate bonds as collateral, resulting in a more than 20% increase in the supply of its Dai stablecoin. Additionally, Ondo Finance focuses on the tokenization of U.S. Treasury bonds, with its locked assets surpassing $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 the on-chain spot order book, elevating tokens to specialized financial instruments. Compared to the ERC-20 standard, it ensures instant tradability and high performance, specifically designed for financial assets.

Influence

• Enhanced capital efficiency: POL and dynamic lending rates will attract more capital inflow, pushing 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 a compliance framework 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 cryptocurrency industry. These significant events and trends will collectively drive the normalization, technological innovation, and mainstream adoption of the market, while attracting more traditional institutions and retail users, accelerating the deep integration of the cryptocurrency industry with the global financial system.