Key Crypto Market Data for 2025: From Speculation to Survival, Web3 is Going Mainstream

I just finished reading a16z’s 2025 State of Crypto report and would like to share some key data and thoughts:

1) The annual transaction volume of stablecoins has reached 46 trillion US dollars, which is three times that of Visa. Even if we remove noise data such as robots, it is still 9 trillion US dollars, which is still 5 times that of Paypal.

This means that stablecoins are no longer simply competing with a single payment company; they are reshaping the entire dollar system. This explains the sudden shift in the US government's stance on crypto: they recognize that stablecoins are a digital weapon to consolidate the dollar's hegemony. It also explains why Tether is building Plasma and Stable, and why Paypal is supporting KiteAI in developing AI payment infrastructure. These are all driven by competition and confrontation.

2) Cryptocurrency institutional adoption is booming: ETF holdings of BTC and ETH have reached $175 billion, a 169% year-over-year increase. Traditional finance and tech giants like Visa, BlackRock, JPMorgan Chase, and Stripe are all entering the market.

This turn of events was somewhat unexpected. With the passage of the GENIUS Act and Circle's billion-dollar IPO, the market landscape has completely reversed from one where crypto was trying to break out of the market to one where traditional finance was actively entering the market to compete for a niche.

3) Usage differentiation between emerging markets and developed markets: Argentina’s wallet usage has increased 16 times in three years, while South Korea and Australia focus on MEME speculation.

It's interesting that small and medium-sized developing countries are attracted to Crypto's "anti-inflation + cross-border payment" features just to make a living, while developed countries are attracted to its "high volatility + arbitrage opportunities" speculative properties. Obviously, the former is the real mass adoption;

4) Accelerated integration of AI and Crypto: Protocols such as x402 provide payment standards for AI agents. It is predicted that the AI agent economy will reach 30 trillion US dollars in 2030.

This data sounds exaggerated, but the recent performance of nof1 Arena has made everyone realize that the power generated by AI Agents' autonomous custody of assets and autonomous execution of transactions is so great.

5) The on-chain economy is in full bloom: DEX accounts for 20% of spot trading volume, perpetual contracts have increased 8 times annually, the RWA market is US$30 billion, and DePIN is expected to reach US$3.5 trillion in 2028.

Cryptocurrency is evolving from pure financial speculation to real-world applications. RWAs are injecting real-world business revenue into the blockchain to generate interest, while DePINs are using tokens to reconstruct physical infrastructure. This trend indicates that internal cycles relying solely on token subsidies are failing. Instead, sustainable business models that rely on protocol monetization, token buybacks (dividends for holders), and robust on-chain financial management are maturing. This will also be a crucial consideration for selecting future value targets.

6) Prediction Market + Privacy Technology: Polymarket/Kalshi transaction volume increased fivefold, approaching historical highs. Privacy coins such as Zcash and Railgun are leading ZK technology back to the mainstream.

Many people assumed the prediction market would cool down after the election, but trading volume actually surged fivefold in 2025. This demonstrates that prediction markets aren't just about betting on the election; they're becoming a new way to uncover true market expectations. From sporting events to economic indicators, and especially in the pre-market cryptocurrency market, any event with uncertainty can be priced in. The resurgence of privacy through regulatory compliance may also create new opportunities for ZK technology to return to the mainstream.

Note: The above only extracts the important data and content that I am interested in. The original text also covers many topics such as Ethereum's L2 strategy, the rise of the Solana ecosystem, and the transformation of the NFT market. If you are interested, you can read the full report.