2025 is expected to be the year crypto emerges from the shadows into the spotlight. But will the journey be smooth, or a bumpy ride through new regulations, political moves, and emerging technologies?
December: The EU Impact
Europe is about to play regulatory guinea pig.
The EU’s MiCA (Markets in Crypto Assets) framework kicks in on 30 December, making it the first major economy with a licensing regime for crypto players. It’s expected to be transformational for the sector but could have a mixed impact.
The good: It’s meant to build trust and clean up the industry, as EY put it in a note. The bad but possibly really ugly: Europe risks turning into an crypto backwater if it overplays its hand.
Liquidity could take a serious hit when Tether’s USDT, the world’s most dominant stablecoin, will be delisted by all EU crypto exchanges by 30 December under these rules.
EU-focused crypto exchange Kyrrex’s co-founder Mike Romanenko tells MONIIFY that MiCA could push hubs across Asia and emerging markets such as India to fully implement their own frameworks to stay competitive.
Read more: Crypto nodes: Passive income or pipe dream?
January: It’s Trump Time
Donald Trump’s second term begins on 20 January, and crypto enthusiasts are waiting for his next move. Day 1 expectations, reports have indicated, include an executive order on crypto.
Over the first 100 days, Trump’s crypto council and crypto czar are expected to come good on promises — a Bitcoin national reserve, stablecoin clarity, and industry-friendly regulations — while dealing with an unpredictable US Congress.
But delivering on them isn’t as easy as it sounds.
One thing is for sure: nothing will be watched more closely in 2025 than Donald Trump’s Truth Social account.
February: Pressure on Hong Kong, India and Australia
The Trump bump is also expected to see the prices of cryptocurrencies rise into February, and this could increase the pressure on other major regions and financial hubs to become friendlier to crypto.
- Hong Kong is already a friend, but it is expected to complete its consultative process around new rules on risk management requirements for crypto entities and implement them by only July 2025.
- Australia’s securities regulator is also facing an uncertain future. By May 2025, elections could see a change in government and force the regulators to abandon their “unclear” and tough policy stand hurting the crypto industry. A consultation on the matter ends on 28 February.
- India is one country that has shown no signs of moving away from its tough position on taxation-without-regulation. It is running out of excuses though after advocating for a global crypto framework as the president of the G20 in 2023 but not coming up with a legislative draft that reflects its own position.
That being said, even if there are indications that it might tweak its heavy-handed approach in its February budget, when tax structures are detailed, hopes for clear rules and lower taxes remain slim.
Mid-2025: The rise of AI agents
Friendly rules or not, AI agents are expected to become crypto’s biggest disruptor in 2025, evolving from memecoin pumpers to full-fledged traders, community managers, and strategists for gaming apps.
The best in the business from Mark Zuckerberg to OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sustkever to Singularity DAO’s CEO Marcello Mari expect the age of AI agents to come in by the end of the year.
AI agents are expected to scale up to a level where they launch tokens, trade autonomously, engage with communities, and drive strategies for entire gaming applications, writes Jack Purdy, director of sales at Messari.
Their impact could be truly mind-boggling.
Read more: AI Agents and crypto trading: Truth vs hype
Rest of the year: Stablecoins it is
Perhaps, one of the most expected outcomes of 2025 is the unstoppable wave of stablecoins.
White & Case LLP’s Douglas Landy and Chante Eliaszadeh advocate for banks engaging with stablecoins, anticipating major strides toward comprehensive regulation in the new year.
Indeed, the Trump administration could push Congress, which seems favorable, to pass the Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act, bringing long-awaited and much-needed regulation.
Tether’s ties to Trump’s commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick might offset its exit from Europe.
Meanwhile, Circle has made inroads in the EU and is expected to flourish, while Ripple, the blockchain firm behind one of the biggest cryptocurrencies, XRP, launched its stablecoin earlier this month.
No wonder the biggest crypto exchange in the US, Coinbase, says that some analysts expect the stablecoin market capitalization to go from its 2024 high of $193 billion to $3 trillion over the next five years.
Edited by Ankush Chibber. If you have any tips, ideas or feedback, please get in touch: talk-to-us@moniify.com
