a16z Releases Seven Key Crypto Trends for 2025 and Other Notable Developments

Original Article Title: 7 Big Ideas for 2025 (and more trends to watch)

Original Article Author: a16zcrypto

Original Article Translation: Ismay, BlockBeats

Abstract: This article will explore seven major crypto core trends, 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.

The following is the original content:

Some Trends We're Watching

a16z has released a comprehensive list of "big ideas" for the coming year based on its partners' observations in AI, US vitality, life sciences/health, cryptocurrency, enterprise services, fintech, gaming, and infrastructure, aimed at inspiring technology builders.

Here are some important ideas shared by the cryptocurrency team, with more exciting content available in the full article.

If you're interested in the outlook for 2025 in terms of policy, regulation, and more, please refer to this article released in November.

1. Enterprises Will Increasingly Adopt Stablecoin Payments

Over the past year, stablecoins have found a product-market fit — this is unsurprising as stablecoins are currently the lowest-cost way to send dollars, enabling fast global payments. Additionally, stablecoins have provided entrepreneurs with a more convenient platform to develop new payment products: no intermediaries, minimal balance requirements, or proprietary SDKs. However, large enterprises have yet to realize the massive cost savings and brand-new profit pools that come with switching to these payment rails.

While we have already seen some interest from enterprises in stablecoins (and early applications in peer-to-peer payments), I anticipate a larger wave of experimentation in 2025. Small to medium-sized enterprises with strong brand influence, a loyal customer base, and facing high payment costs (such as restaurants, coffee shops, and convenience stores) may be the first to transition from credit cards to stablecoin payments. These enterprises do not benefit from credit card fraud protection (especially in face-to-face transactions), and the high transaction fees have a significant impact on their profits (a 30-cent fee per cup of coffee is huge in terms of profit loss).

We should also expect larger enterprises to start adopting stablecoins. If stablecoins can accelerate the evolution of banking history, then enterprises will attempt to disintermediate payment service providers — adding a direct 2% to their bottom line. Additionally, enterprises will start looking for 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 Explore Putting National Debt on Chain

Putting national debt on-chain would create a government-backed, interest-bearing digital asset while avoiding the regulatory privacy issues that Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) bring. Such products can provide new collateral demand sources for lending and derivative protocols in DeFi (Decentralized Finance), thus adding more stability and credibility to these ecosystems.

As governments globally supporting innovation further explore the benefits and efficiencies of public, permissionless, and tamper-proof blockchains this year, some countries may pilot the issuance of on-chain national debt. For example, the UK has already explored digital securities through a sandbox project set up by its financial regulator, the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority); the UK Treasury has also expressed interest in issuing digital bonds.

In the United States, due to the SEC's plan next year to require settling government bonds through traditional, cumbersome, and costly infrastructure, there is an expectation of more discussions on how blockchain can enhance bond trading transparency, efficiency, and participation.

—Brian Quintenz (X Platform @brianquintenz | Farcaster Platform @brianq)

3. "DUNA" to Become the New Industry Standard for the US Blockchain Network

In 2024, Wyoming passed a new law formally 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 framework in the US for such projects. By incorporating DUNA into a decentralized legal entity structure, crypto projects and other decentralized communities can grant legal status to their DAOs — facilitating broader economic activity while protecting token holders from legal liability and addressing tax and regulatory requirements effectively.

DAOs, as the community governing open blockchain network transactions, are a crucial tool to ensure the network remains open, fair, and free from undue value extraction. DUNA can unlock the potential of DAOs, with several projects already pushing for its implementation. As the US further supports and accelerates the development of its crypto ecosystem in 2025, I anticipate DUNA to become the industry standard for US crypto projects. Moreover, other states may follow suit, adopting similar frameworks (Wyoming leads this trend, being the first to adopt the now widely used LLC) — especially as decentralized applications outside the crypto realm (such as physical infrastructure/energy grids) rise.

——Miles Jennings (X Platform @milesjennings | Farcaster Platform @milesjennings)

4. Developers Will Reuse More Rather Than Reinvent Infrastructure

Over the past year, teams have continuously "reinvented the wheel" in the blockchain technology stack — such as developing another custom set of validators, consensus protocol implementations, execution engines, programming languages, and RPC APIs. While these attempts may have brought slight improvements in certain specific functions, they often fall short in broader or foundational functionalities. Take, for example, a programming language designed specifically for SNARKs: ideally, this language could help top developers build more performant SNARKs, but in practice, it may lag behind general-purpose programming languages in areas like compiler optimizations, development tools, online learning resources, and AI programming support (at least for now), potentially leading to subpar SNARK performance.

Therefore, I anticipate that in 2025, more teams will leverage the existing work of others, reusing ready-made blockchain infrastructure components — from consensus protocols and existing staking mechanisms to proof systems. This approach not only can help developers save significant time and effort but also allow them to focus on delivering the unique value of their products or services.

Today, the infrastructure needed to develop mainstream Web3 products and services is largely in place. Like in other industries, successful teams will ultimately be those who can effectively navigate the complex supply chain, rather than those ridiculing "off-the-shelf" technology.

——Joachim Neu (X Platform @jneu_net)

5. Crypto Industry Sees the Rise of Exclusive App Stores and Content Discovery Channels

When crypto apps are blocked by centralized platforms like the Apple App Store or Google Play, their users face restricted access to top channels. However, we now see some emerging app stores and markets offering distribution and content discovery functions without strict censorship. For instance, Worldcoin's World App Market — not only storing identity verification data but also providing access to "mini-apps" — attracted hundreds of thousands of users for multiple apps within just a few days. Another example is Solana's mobile-exclusive feeless dApp Store. These cases also suggest that not only software but hardware (such as smartphones or authentication devices) could be key advantages for crypto app stores, akin to how Apple devices once drove early app ecosystem growth.

At the same time, there are other storefronts containing thousands of decentralized applications and Web3 development tools (such as Alchemy), as well as blockchains acting as game publishers and distribution platforms (like Ronin). However, this is not purely an entertainment ecosystem: migrating a product to the chain is not easy if it already has an established distribution channel (such as messaging apps) — with the exception of Telegram/TON Network. This is also true for applications with significant distribution advantages in the Web2 ecosystem. However, by 2025, we may see more of these migrations taking place.

——Maggie Hsu (X Platform @meigga | Farcaster Platform @maggiehsu)

6. From Holder to User: The Evolution of Crypto Users

In 2024, the crypto space made significant progress on the political front, with many key policymakers and politicians expressing positive views on it. Simultaneously, crypto as a financial movement continued to evolve (for example, Bitcoin and Ethereum ETPs broadened the participation channels for investors). In 2025, crypto is poised to further evolve into a computing movement. But where will the next user base come from?

I believe it is time to re-activate the currently "passive" crypto asset holders and transform them into more active users because currently only 5-10% of crypto asset holders are actively using crypto technology. We can onboard the 617 million people who already hold crypto assets onto the chain, especially as blockchain infrastructure continues to improve, and user transaction costs keep decreasing. This means new applications will gradually emerge for existing and new users. Meanwhile, some early applications we have seen — covering stablecoins, DeFi, NFTs, gaming, social, DePIN, DAOs, and prediction markets — are starting to become more easily accepted by mainstream users as the community becomes more focused on user experience and other optimizations.

——Daren Matsuoka (X Platform @darenmatsuoka | Farcaster Platform)

7. "Abstracting Technical Details" Empowering the Birth of Web3's Killer Apps

The blockchain industry's technical prowess gives it a unique advantage but has also, to a certain extent, hindered mainstream user adoption. For creators and fans, blockchain technology has brought about entirely new possibilities for connectivity, ownership, and monetization... However, industry-specific terms (such as "NFTs," "zkRollups," etc.) and complex designs have served as barriers to entry for those who could benefit the most. In countless conversations with executives from the media, music, and fashion industries about Web3, I have experienced this firsthand.

The widespread adoption of many consumer technologies has often followed a similar path: technology first, followed by the abstraction of complexity by a landmark company or designer, leading to breakthrough applications. Think about the development of email—the SMTP protocol was hidden behind the "Send" button; or credit cards, where most users today do not care about the payment rails behind the scenes. Similarly, Spotify's music revolution was not achieved by showcasing file formats but by delivering playlists directly to users' fingertips. As Nassim Taleb puts it, "Overengineering leads to fragility, and simplicity is scalable."

Therefore, I believe that in 2025, our industry will embrace this concept of "hiding technical details." The best decentralized applications have already started focusing on more intuitive interface designs, making operations as simple as tapping a screen or swiping a card. In 2025, we will see more companies dedicated to sleek design and clear communication; successful products won't need explanations, as they will directly solve problems.

——Chris Lyons (X Platform @chrislyons | Farcaster Platform)

6 Major Trends in Decentralized Governance for 2025

2025 promises to be an exciting year for decentralized governance. Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) are constantly innovating, exploring new models for anonymous token holders' collective governance. 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 decentralized governance experiments unfolding simultaneously, including:

1. Websites to aid in voter proxy voting

2. AI-assisted proxy mechanisms

3. AI acting as an agent

4. Smarter participation incentive mechanisms

5. More efficient public goods funding support

6. Increased experimentation with sortition governance

"Original Article Link"