Original title: 7 Big Ideas for 2025 (and more trends to watch)
Original author: a16zcrypto
Original translation by: Ismay, BlockBeats
Summary: This article will explore seven core trends in crypto, covering stablecoins, app stores, decentralized governance, and more. These trends will not only drive industry development but also provide new perspectives for future technological innovation and applications.
Below is the original content:
Some trends we are focusing on
a16z has released a comprehensive list of 'big ideas' for the coming year based on its partners' observations in fields such as AI, American vitality, life sciences/health, cryptocurrency, enterprise services, fintech, gaming, and infrastructure, aimed at inspiring tech builders.
Here are some key ideas shared by cryptocurrency team members, with more exciting content available in the full article.
For insights on the outlook for policies, regulations, and more in 2025, please refer to this article published in November.
1. Businesses will increasingly accept stablecoin payments
Over the past year, stablecoins have found product-market fit—this is not surprising, as stablecoins are currently the lowest-cost way to send dollars and enable fast global payments. Furthermore, stablecoins provide entrepreneurs with a more convenient platform to develop new payment products: no intermediaries, no minimum balance requirements, or exclusive SDKs. However, large enterprises have yet to realize the massive cost savings and new profit avenues that switching to these payment rails would bring.
While we have seen some businesses express interest in stablecoins (as well as early applications in peer-to-peer payments), I anticipate a wave of larger experimentation in 2025. Small to medium-sized enterprises (like restaurants, cafes, and convenience stores) with strong brand influence, loyal customer bases, and high payment costs may be the first to transition from credit cards to stablecoin payments. These businesses do not benefit from the fraud protection of credit cards (especially in face-to-face transactions), and the high transaction fees significantly impact their profits (30 cents per cup of coffee is a substantial cost to their profit margin).
We should also expect larger enterprises to start adopting stablecoins. If stablecoins can accelerate the evolution of banking history, then businesses will attempt to disintermediate payment service providers—adding 2% profit directly to their bottom line. Additionally, businesses will start seeking new solutions to address issues currently tackled by credit card companies, such as fraud protection and identity verification.
——Sam Broner (X platform @sambroner | Farcaster platform @sambroner)
2. Countries exploring the on-chain issuance of government bonds
Putting government bonds on the blockchain will create a government-backed, interest-bearing digital asset while avoiding the regulatory privacy issues posed by Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). Such products can provide a new source of collateral demand for lending and derivatives protocols in DeFi (decentralized finance), thereby adding more stability and credibility to these ecosystems.
As governments around the world that support innovation further explore the advantages and efficiencies of public, permissionless, and immutable blockchains this year, some countries may pilot the issuance of on-chain government bonds. For example, the UK has already explored digital securities through its sandbox project established by its financial regulator, the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority); the UK Treasury has also expressed intentions to issue digital bonds.
In the United States, due to the SEC's (Securities and Exchange Commission) plan to require the clearing of government bonds through traditional cumbersome and costly infrastructure next year, more discussions are expected on how blockchain can enhance the transparency, efficiency, and participation of bond trading.
——Brian Quintenz (X platform @brianquintenz | Farcaster platform @brianq)
3. 'DUNA' will become the new industry standard for blockchain networks in the U.S.
In 2024, Wyoming passed a new law officially recognizing DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) as legal entities. DUNA (Decentralized Unincorporated Nonprofit Association) is designed specifically to support decentralized governance of blockchain networks and is currently the only viable legal structure for projects in the U.S. By incorporating DUNA into decentralized legal entity structures, crypto projects and other decentralized communities can provide legal status to their DAOs—facilitating broader economic activities while protecting token holders from legal liabilities and properly addressing tax and compliance needs.
DAOs, as communities governing open blockchain networks, are important tools for ensuring the network remains open, fair, and avoids unreasonable value extraction. DUNA can unlock the potential of DAOs, and multiple projects are already promoting its implementation. As the U.S. further supports and accelerates the development of its crypto ecosystem in 2025, I expect DUNA to become the industry standard for U.S. crypto projects. Additionally, other states may follow suit and adopt similar structures (Wyoming led this trend; they were also the first to adopt the LLC structure now widely used)—especially in light of the rise of other decentralized applications outside the crypto space (like physical infrastructure/energy grids).
——Miles Jennings (X platform @milesjennings | Farcaster platform @milesjennings)
4. Developers will reuse infrastructure more rather than reinvent it
In the past year, teams have been continuously 'reinventing the wheel' within the blockchain technology stack—developing yet another set of custom validator sets, consensus protocol implementations, execution engines, programming languages, and RPC APIs. These attempts may have slight improvements in certain specific functionalities but often perform inadequately in broader or foundational functionalities. Take the programming language specifically designed for SNARKs as an example: ideally, this language could help top developers build better-performing SNARKs, but in practice, it may lag behind general-purpose programming languages in compiler optimization, development tools, online learning resources, and AI programming support (at least for now), potentially leading to poor SNARK performance.
Therefore, I anticipate that more teams will leverage existing成果, reusing ready-made blockchain infrastructure components—from consensus protocols and existing staked capital to proof systems in 2025. This approach can not only save developers a significant amount of time and effort but also allow them to focus on creating unique value in their products or services.
Today, the infrastructure needed to develop Web3 products and services for the masses is essentially in place. Like other industries, the teams that ultimately succeed will be those that can effectively leverage complex supply chains, rather than those that mock 'non-self-developed' technologies.
——Joachim Neu (X platform @jneu_net)
5. The crypto industry welcomes dedicated app stores and content discovery channels
When crypto applications are blocked by centralized platforms like the Apple App Store or Google Play, their top channels for user acquisition are restricted. However, we now see some emerging app stores and marketplaces offering distribution and content discovery features without strict vetting. For example, Worldcoin's World App marketplace—not only stores verification information but also provides access to 'mini-apps'—has brought hundreds of thousands of users to multiple applications in just a few days. Another example is the zero-fee dApp Store exclusive to Solana phone users. These cases also indicate that not only software but hardware (like phones or verification devices) may become key advantages for crypto app stores, just as Apple devices once propelled the development of early application ecosystems.
At the same time, there are other stores containing thousands of decentralized applications and Web3 development tools (like Alchemy), as well as blockchains (like Ronin) acting as game publishers and distribution platforms. But this is not entirely an entertainment-focused ecosystem: if a product already has established distribution channels (like messaging apps), migrating it on-chain is not easy (the exception being the Telegram/TON network). The same goes for applications with significant distribution advantages in the Web2 ecosystem. However, 2025 may see more of such migrations occurring.
——Maggie Hsu (X platform @meigga | Farcaster platform @maggiehsu)
6. From holders to users: the transformation of crypto users
In 2024, the crypto space made significant political progress, with many key policymakers and political figures expressing positive views. At the same time, crypto as a financial movement continues to evolve (e.g., Bitcoin and Ethereum ETPs have broadened channels for investor participation). In 2025, crypto is expected to further develop into a movement of computational technology. But where will the next user base come from?
I believe it is time to reactivate those currently 'passive' crypto asset holders and convert them into more active users. Currently, only 5-10% of crypto asset holders are actively using crypto technology. We can bring the 617 million people who already hold crypto assets on-chain, especially as blockchain infrastructure continues to improve and user transaction costs decrease. This means new applications will gradually emerge for existing and new users. At the same time, some early applications we have already seen—covering stablecoins, DeFi, NFTs, gaming, social, DePIN, DAOs, and prediction markets—are starting to become more accessible to mainstream users as communities increasingly focus on user experience and other optimizations.
——Daren Matsuoka (X platform @darenmatsuoka | Farcaster platform)
7. 'Hiding technical details' will help the birth of killer applications in Web3
The technological advantages of the blockchain industry make it unique, but they also hinder mainstream user acceptance to some extent. For creators and fans, blockchain technology brings new possibilities for connectivity, ownership, and monetization... However, the jargon used in the industry (like 'NFTs', 'zkRollups', etc.) and complex designs have become barriers for those who could benefit most. I have deeply felt this in countless conversations with executives from the media, music, and fashion sectors about Web3.
Many consumer technology mass adoptions have followed a similar path: technology leads, followed by a hallmark company or designer abstracting complexity, thus spawning breakthrough applications. Recall the development of email—SMTP protocols hidden behind the 'send' button; or credit cards, most users nowadays do not care about the payment rails behind them. Similarly, Spotify's music revolution was not achieved by showcasing file formats but by delivering playlists directly to users' fingertips. As Nassim Taleb said, 'Over-engineering leads to fragility, while simplicity is scalable.'
Therefore, I believe our industry will adopt the concept of 'hiding technical details' in 2025. The best decentralized applications have started to focus on more intuitive interface designs, making operations as simple as clicking a screen or swiping a card. In 2025, we will see more companies committed to clean design and clear communication; successful products will need no explanation; they will address problems directly.
——Chris Lyons (X platform @chrislyons | Farcaster platform)
Six major trends in decentralized governance in 2025
2025 is set to be an exciting year for decentralized governance. Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) are continuously pushing innovations and exploring new models for joint governance by anonymous token holders. Investment management firms are striving to persuade clients to participate more frequently in online shareholder voting. Meanwhile, AI companies are beginning to use citizen assemblies to set norms for large language models (LLMs). These efforts will lead to multiple experiments in decentralized governance unfolding simultaneously, including:
1. Websites that help voters delegate their votes
2. AI-assisted delegation mechanisms
3. AI as agent
4. Smarter participation incentive mechanisms
5. More efficient public goods funding support
6. More experiments in lottery governance
'Original link'