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In the Series X, Hitesh Malviya, the founder of DYOR – a free on-chain analytics platform – revealed his set of crypto predictions for the year 2025. Malviya reveals key trends and shifts expected to shape the crypto landscape. Below are the top 15 predictions that stakeholders and enthusiasts should keep a close eye on.
Top 15 Crypto Predictions for 2025
#1 US Regulation Of The Crypto Market By 2025
Malviya expects the formalization of the United States regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies in 2025. “The US crypto regulatory framework has been under discussion for the past two years, but we are yet to see any approval of it,” he said. He also predicts that during Trump’s presidency, favorable laws will emerge, which will greatly strengthen sectors with strong financial flows, especially decentralized finance (DeFi).
#2 Popularity based on Memecoin
Despite the expected regulatory intervention, Malviya expects the memecoin industry to regain its momentum. “Most of the memes will end up being banned for a while when the regulatory framework is introduced in the USA, because I don’t see them being a part of it,” he explained.
He also predicts that the regulation will “end up creating a clear distinction between intangible commercial assets and assets that have some kind of intrinsic value associated with them.” However, as of 2024, “the majority of people will choose memes instead of goods that are fundamentally supported, even if they are not recognized by the government,” predicts Malviya, adding, “meme mania will only grow—more participants will join in the hope of changing their lives. The casino will be huge over time.”
#3 Expansion of Thoughtful Markets
Besides memecoins, Malviya foresees a significant growth in speculative markets, especially among the prediction markets of events, news, stories and almost everything. “Memes is not the most speculative market that crypto has to offer – prediction markets are the big fish in the pond. […] Prediction market platforms like Polymarket will eventually capture the largest audience in 2025,” he notes.
#4 The DeFi Renaissance
The resurgence of DeFi is central to Malviya’s predictions. He predicts that DeFi will become the domain of mature investors, with the total value locked (TVL) in DeFi contracts exceeding 250 billion dollars by the end of 2025. of Donald Trump’s crypto project World Liberty Financial as an important part of growth. “Other DeFi coins will also hit $30B-$50B market caps next year,” the expert said.
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#5 On-Chain Commodity Trading
Asset integration in blockchain ecosystems is expected to gain momentum. Malviya predicts, “Different types of assets will eventually be offered for trading on multiple DEXs by 2025.” Ostium Labs is identified by the expert as an early innovator in this domain, with the expectation that many projects will launch commodity trading platforms.
#6 Stablecoin Market Cap Reaches $500 Billion
The stablecoin sector is poised for massive growth, with Malviya predicting a market capitalization of $500 billion. “Many new stablecoins will eventually take market share from the big players like USDC and USDT,” he said. The Reserve Protocol, which promotes asset-backed stablecoins, is identified as a promising step within this expansion.
#7 Rise of AI Art NFTs
Artificial Intelligence-driven NFTs are expected to receive significant attention. “Some AI artists, like Refik Anadol, can steal the top attention from NFT art collectors next year,” Malviya predicts. He expects that AI Art NFT collections may reach prices as low as 100 Ethereum (ETH).
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#8 Staking-Driven Airdrop Methods
Malviya predicts that Polygon and EigenLayer will have a series of major token launches next year. “I expect that Polygon and EigenLayer staking will bring a few ecosystem airdrops to owners,” he explained.
#9 The High Value and Decline of Initial AI Contributions (IAOs)
The first phase of IAOs is expected to reach its peak, followed by contraction. “IAOs are currently going through the first phase,” Malviya notes, warning that overcrowding will lead to the decline of many AI agents. “Only a few agents with quality data training and a clear purpose will be able to survive the winter of the AI agent, which will happen sometime next year,” warns the expert.
#10 Perpetual Bull Market Perception
Malviya suggests that the bull market will continue to see but not as direct as in the past when all altcoins rose at the same time. “That’s the saddest part of this forecast—many people will always be fooled by the bull market, as it is now. “The nature of the market will continue to change for a few more months,” he said.
He foresees a major correction similar to a bear cycle, yet expects an unexpected recovery influenced by possible black swan events: “I expect a major correction, which may resemble a bear cycle in 2025, but it will surprise people with an unexpected, parallel recovery. and other possible black swan events.”
#11 Focus on Privacy-Based Projects
Post-regulatory clarifications under Trump, privacy-focused projects are expected to gain prominence. “Secret operations and private accounting can be necessary at some point,” Malviya stressed. Projects like Nillion are expected to attract a lot of attention within the DeFi and DeAI sectors, catering to the growing demand for privacy solutions.
#12 SUI Surpasses Solana in Daily Trading
The SUI blockchain, which uses the SocialFi account, is expected to surpass Solana in daily transaction volumes. “SUI is currently cooking up the SocialFi narrative. Most of the app activity at SUI comes from their SocialFi app, which deals directly with the creator economy. I expect that some of the applications from SUI will eventually break the code of the creator economy and bring the masses to the chain, eventually surpassing Solana in daily transaction metrics.”
#13 Strong Competition Among Alternative Virtual Machines (AltVMs)
The battle between AltVMs will heat up, with Malviya identifying competitors such as Monad, MegaETH, Berachain, HyperVM, Sonic, and Sei. “One of them will take 75% of the market share within 12 months after launch,” he predicts, citing success in community support and developer relationships. Malviya expresses some interest in MegaEth Labs as a potential market leader.
#14 General Acceptance of Web Wallets3
Web3 wallets are expected to reach mainstream status, driven by improved user onboarding and intuitive interfaces. “Web3 wallets will be very easy to access and use next year,” Malviya said. The emergence of great apps, alongside Web3 wallets from major exchanges such as OKX and Binance, is expected to drive widespread adoption of mobile platforms.
#15 DEXs Capturing 30% Of Trading Volume
Finally, Malviya foresees that DEXs will significantly increase their share of trading volumes. “The average trading volume of DEX/CEX is currently sitting at 15%. I expect it to double in the next 12 months,” he said. The shift to on-chain transactions has revealed the benefits of self-control and advanced onboarding technologies such as account withdrawal, leading to increased user expectations for the chain.
At press time, Bitcoin traded at $96,139.
Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView.com
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