As the year draws to a close, investors are preparing to make a big move in the new year, and asset management firms have made new predictions for 2025's investment outlook. Chain News has previously summarized investment reports from BlackRock and Bitwise; this piece focuses on VanEck's 10 major crypto predictions for 2025, centered on digital assets and alternative investments.
(BlackRock 2025 Investment Outlook: Bitcoin as a new diversification tool)
(Bitwise 2025 forecast: Bitcoin at $200K, Ethereum at $7K, AI agents will continue to lead the meme coin frenzy)
The crypto bull market peaked in the first quarter and set new highs in the fourth quarter
VanEck believes the crypto bull market will last until 2025, peaking in the first quarter, then correcting, and reaching new highs in the fourth quarter, with a projected peak of:
Bitcoin (BTC): $180,000
Ethereum (ETH): $6,000
Solana (SOL): $500
Sui (SUI): $10
The U.S. embraces Bitcoin through strategic reserves and increased cryptocurrency adoption
Trump's election has injected tremendous momentum into the crypto market, and his appointed cabinet team not only marks the end of anti-cryptocurrency policies but also represents the beginning of a policy framework that positions Bitcoin as a strategic asset.
(Trump's cabinet team is formed, who will influence the future direction of crypto policy?)
VanEck also anticipates the emergence of physical creation, staking, and new ETF approvals, the adoption of sovereign Bitcoin (by the federal government or at least one U.S. state), and an increase in the number of countries utilizing government resources to mine Bitcoin, with corporate Bitcoin holdings exceeding the 1.1 million BTC held by Satoshi Nakamoto.
The value of tokenized securities exceeds $50 billion
2025 will be the year tokenized securities take off. Entities such as DTCC will support tokenized assets, enabling a seamless transition between public blockchains and private closed infrastructures. This dynamic will lead to AML/KYC standards being enforced for on-chain investors. VanEck also predicts that Coinbase will take unprecedented steps to tokenize COIN stock and deploy it onto its BASE blockchain.
Stablecoin daily settlement volume reaches $300 billion
Stablecoins will transcend their niche role in cryptocurrency trading and become a core part of global business. The remittance market will also experience explosive growth.
Over 1 million on-chain AI agents
AI agents are one of the most compelling stories, set to transform into significant appeal by 2025. AI agents can act as KOLs, computer players in games, and interactive companions/helpers in consumer applications. Currently, Bixby and Terminal of Truths have become significant X/Twitter KOLs, with 92,000 and 197,000 followers respectively. Therefore, VanEck believes that over 1 million new AI agents will emerge by 2025.
Bitcoin L2's total locked value reaches 100,000 BTC
Bitcoin L2 solutions experienced explosive growth in 2024, with total locked value (TVL) exceeding 30,000 BTC, a 600% increase year-to-date, valued at approximately $3 billion. Currently, over 75 Bitcoin L2 projects are in development, but in the long run, only a few projects may achieve widespread adoption. As chain abstraction technology and Bitcoin L2 mature into products available to end-users, Bitcoin will also become an indispensable part of DeFi.
Ethereum blob space generates $1 billion in fees
The Ethereum community is actively discussing whether Ethereum can gain sufficient value from its L2 network through Blob space (a key component of its scaling roadmap). Despite recent slow growth in Blob space, usage is expected to surge by 2025, primarily driven by explosive L2 adoption, Rollup optimization, and the introduction of high-fee use cases.
DeFi trading volume reaches $4 trillion, with TVL hitting $200 billion
DEX trading volume is expected to exceed $4 trillion in 2025, driven by a surge in AI-related tokens and new consumer-facing dApps, accounting for 20% of CEX spot trading volume.
Additionally, the influx of tokenized securities and high-value assets will promote the growth of DeFi, providing new liquidity and broader utility. Therefore, DeFi TVL will rebound to over $200 billion by the end of the year, reflecting the growing demand for decentralized financial infrastructure in the evolving digital economy.
The NFT market rebounds with trading volumes reaching $30 billion
As cryptocurrency wealth rebounds, it is expected that newly wealthy users will diversify their investments into NFTs, not only as speculative investments but also as assets with lasting cultural and historical significance. Given the strong cultural prestige and relevance of well-known collectibles like CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), VanEck believes they are fully capable of benefiting from this shift.
Ethereum continues to dominate the NFT space, hosting the majority of important collectibles. In 2024, it accounted for 71% of NFT transactions, and this figure is expected to rise to 85% by 2025.
Although NFT trading volumes may not return to previous cycle highs, VanEck believes that as the market shifts towards sustainability and cultural relevance rather than speculative hype, annual trading volumes could reach $30 billion, about 55% of the peak in 2021.
The performance gap between DApp tokens and L1 tokens will narrow
VanEck anticipates a wave of new dApps launching in 2025, providing innovative and useful products that will drive the value of their respective tokens. Among key thematic trends, we see artificial intelligence (AI) as a prominent category of dApp innovation. Additionally, decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) projects present tremendous potential to attract investor and user interest, contributing to a broader performance rebalancing between L1 tokens and dApp tokens.
This article VanEck 2025 forecast: Crypto moves towards reality, RWA, stablecoins, and AI agents will see significant growth first appeared in Chain News ABMedia.
