Four top investors—Dragonfly managing partner Haseeb Qureshi, Dragonfly general partner Tom Schmidt, Superstate CEO Robert Leshner, and Robot Ventures managing partner Tarun Chitra—recently reviewed the cryptocurrency market for 2024 on the Chopping Block show and made predictions for 2025. 📈

The biggest winner of 2024:

HyperLiquid: A decentralized perpetual contract trading platform, the successful token airdrop is regarded as this cycle's 'Uniswap moment'.

Founders and companies of cryptocurrency in the U.S.: From extreme hostility to a bullish stance.

DeFi sector: Recovering from bear market pressures, demonstrating strong resilience.

Tether (USDT): One of the most profitable companies globally, continuing to grow and regulate.

The biggest loser of 2024:

Anti-crypto camp: Some members in both houses of Congress and some SEC members have failed in their strategies to suppress the cryptocurrency industry.

Second-tier Layer 2 projects and application chains: Thousands of anticipated L2 projects have failed to materialize.

Financial nihilism: The trading volume of meme coins has significantly decreased, and the market shows more enthusiasm for technological innovation.

Those who abandoned crypto for artificial intelligence: Those who switched to AI due to a lack of faith in crypto may now regret it.

The biggest surprise of 2024:

Pump.fun and BonkBot: The development speed of meme coin infrastructure is astonishing.

World Liberty Financial: Presidential candidates are associated with DeFi tokens, but sales performance is below expectations.

"Tap to earn" model: The Hamster Combat game has attracted military attention in Iran.

Solana and Base: The rise as meme coin infrastructure is surprising.

Predictions for 2025:

  1. Haseeb Qureshi:

    • Bitcoin will pull back after reaching $150,000.

    • DeFi tokens will experience explosive growth.

    • The prices of AI-related tokens will rise significantly, but the actual application of the underlying protocols may be relatively limited.

  2. Robert Leshner:

    • Bitcoin will reach $180,000, but there will be no sharp pullback.

    • The U.S. will introduce specialized legislation for cryptocurrency for the first time.

    • An AI crypto scam event that attracts media attention may occur.

  3. Tarun Chitra:

    • Application chains and L2 tracks will experience a wave of integration.

    • The total market value of AI-related tokens will grow at least fivefold.

    • The inflation rate of Solana will be reduced by at least 25%.

  4. Tom Schmidt:

    • Money games similar to Farcaster or "buttons" will achieve mainstream adoption.

    • New cryptocurrency asset ETFs are likely to be approved, possibly XRP or Litecoin.

    • A significant application layer security incident may be observed.

The perspectives and predictions of these investors provide us with valuable market insights.

Haseeb Qureshi:

Bitcoin will pull back after reaching $150,000.

DeFi tokens will experience explosive growth.

The prices of AI-related tokens will rise significantly, but the actual application of the underlying protocols may be relatively limited.

Robert Leshner:

Bitcoin will reach $180,000, but there will be no sharp pullback.

The U.S. will introduce specialized legislation for cryptocurrency for the first time.

An AI crypto scam event that attracts media attention may occur.

Tarun Chitra:

Application chains and L2 tracks will experience a wave of integration.

The total market value of AI-related tokens will grow at least fivefold.

The inflation rate of Solana will be reduced by at least 25%.

Tom Schmidt:

Money games similar to Farcaster or "buttons" will achieve mainstream adoption.

New cryptocurrency asset ETFs are likely to be approved, possibly XRP or Litecoin.

A significant application layer security incident may be observed.

The perspectives and predictions of these investors provide us with valuable market insights.