Key Points
- Pantera Capital predicts Bitcoin-native finance and NFTs will fuel innovation in 2025 as real-world assets grow and fintech platforms adopt crypto.
- Paul Veradittakit, managing partner at Pantera Capital, identifies eight key trends that could shape the crypto landscape in 2025.
Venture capital firm Pantera Capital, based in California, anticipates that Bitcoin-native finance and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) will be the driving force behind innovation in 2025. This comes as real-world assets continue to grow and fintech platforms increasingly adopt cryptocurrency.
Forecasting Crypto’s Future
Following signals of pro-crypto policies from President-elect Trump, the cryptocurrency industry is preparing for a transformative year filled with fresh concepts. Paul Veradittakit, managing partner at Pantera Capital, has offered his perspective on what the future of crypto might look like in 2025, sharing his insights in an email newsletter.
Drawing on the collective knowledge of the Pantera team, Veradittakit has highlighted eight key trends. Some of these trends are already gaining momentum, while others are just beginning to surface.
Key Trends to Watch
Real-world assets (RWAs) such as private credit, Treasury bills, and commodities are making their presence felt on-chain. In 2024, the value of RWAs increased by over 60%, reaching a total value of $13.7 billion. Veradittakit forecasts that by 2025, RWAs will constitute 30% of the total value locked on-chain, up from 15% as of January.
Private credit is spearheading this trend, with platforms like Figure adding $4 billion in assets last year. Veradittakit also sees potential for more complex financial products like stocks and bonds to join the on-chain space.
Bitcoin (BTC) has maintained its position as a layer-1 core network, distinguishing itself from competitors like Ethereum which have moved towards decentralizing their architecture with layer-2 solutions to address scalability issues. However, 2025 could see a shift, with protocols like Babylon potentially driving 1% of all BTC into “Bitcoin-Fi,” according to Veradittakit.
Apps like PayPal, Venmo, WhatsApp, and TON are becoming crucial gateways for crypto users. Veradittakit suggests that these platforms make accessing crypto easier for users without locking them into specific protocols.
Uniswap’s influence in the layer-2 ecosystem could make its upcoming network, Unichain, the leader by transaction volume. Veradittakit believes that if Unichain manages to capture just half of Uniswap’s volume, it could easily surpass the largest l2s to become the leading l2 by transaction volume.
NFTs are evolving beyond collectibles and are now being used in gaming, AI, identity verification, and consumer apps. Veradittakit points out that NFTs can be used to represent and value assets, leading to monetary, potentially speculative growth.
Restaking protocols like EigenLayer and Karak are set to launch their mainnets in 2025, potentially expanding the value and use cases of staking across multiple networks.
A new cryptographic approach, known as zkTLS, is emerging that allows websites to validate and share their data on-chain, without revealing sensitive information. Veradittakit believes this technology could unlock significant opportunities for oracles and data services.
For the first time in years, the U.S. regulatory landscape appears to be favoring crypto. President-elect Trump has announced plans to create a legal framework for crypto. Veradittakit hopes this new environment will reduce lawsuits, clarify crypto regulations, and simplify tax considerations.
According to Pantera’s predictions, crypto might become more integrated into mainstream finance and technology. As Veradittakit puts it, these trends “will only accelerate,” making 2025 a pivotal year for crypto.
