The 2025 crypto market is bleak, but there are still 12 big winners

If 2024 is the year of the cryptocurrency revival, 2025 will be a pivotal year for industry regulation recognition and a shift in public opinion from speculation to foundational financial market infrastructure.

Below are the core winners of 2025:

1. United States and Trump: Reversing industry focus by defining stablecoins through the GENIUS Act, issuing an executive order on Bitcoin reserves, and pushing for leadership changes at SEC/CFTC to clear regulatory hurdles.

2. Spot ETFs: IBIT ranks among the Top 10 ETFs in the US in inflows, surpassing traditional giants; SEC approves simplified listing standards, leading to ETFs for Ethereum, Solana, XRP, and others.

3. Solana: Shedding the “beta” label, on-chain transaction volume ranks among the top for three consecutive months, transforming into a global liquidity layer, shifting from competition with Ethereum to benchmarking Nasdaq.

4. Ripple: Ending long-standing litigation with the SEC, shifting narrative to “liquidity engine,” and launching spot ETFs; Ripple invests $4 billion to acquire traditional financial infrastructure, transforming into a full-stack institutional payments giant.

5. RWA: From pilot projects to critical infrastructure, BlackRock’s BUIDL fund becomes an off-chain collateral, with tokenized assets exceeding $20 billion, attracting traditional financial giants to enter the space.

6. Stablecoins: Market cap surpasses $300 billion, with 200 million holders reaching a new high, becoming the global fintech settlement layer; the GENIUS Act provides legal clarity for banks to enter.

7. Hong Kong: ETP market ranks third globally, with an average daily trading volume of HKD 37.8 billion; VATP licensing system is well-established, and stablecoin regulations attract over 30 applicants.

8. Base: Leveraging Coinbase’s large user base, becoming the preferred platform for consumer applications and stablecoin experiments, building a bridge between on-chain worlds and compliant environments.

9. Zcash and Privacy: Zcash leads privacy coins in shedding the “illegal” stigma, becoming one of the best-performing sectors of the year, accelerating Ethereum’s privacy protection efforts; SEC has discussed compliance frameworks with it.

10. Perpetual DEXs: On-chain derivatives break trust barriers, successfully capturing trading volume from CEXs; the rise of DEXs like Hyperliquid marks the maturity of the DeFi market structure.

11. Prediction Markets: Platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket set records; traditional institutions like Gemini and Coinbase, along with crypto companies, enter the space, bridging the gap between speculation and finance.

12. Early Adopters: Despite industry winter and regulatory pressure, they persevere and are validated, entering ahead of institutions like BlackRock.