Decentralized finance (DeFi) will reach an inflection point in 2025 as Bitcoin staking, real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, and agent artificial intelligence (AI) drive adoption, multiple industry executives told Cointelegraph.
In 2024, Bitcoin surpassed $100,000 per coin for the first time, with investors pouring more than $100 billion into physical BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Dean Tribble, CEO of Layer 1 network Agoric Systems, told Cointelegraph: “Bitcoin (BTC)’s all-time high will spark renewed interest in cryptocurrencies from both institutions and regulators, and will reinvigorate the entire cryptocurrency sector in 2025. “It will infuse it,” he said.
According to data from DefiLlama, the total value locked (TVL) of DeFi protocols last December reached $130 billion, close to the ecosystem’s all-time high of about $175 billion in 2021. Industry executives expect this upward trend to continue next year.
“By 2025, DeFi infrastructure and blue-chip protocols like Aave, Maple, and Maker will have been operating at scale for over four years,” Jacob Phillips, co-founder and head of strategy at Bitcoin staking protocol Lombard, told Cointelegraph.
“These platforms will become a trusted place for institutions and new users to work with Bitcoin,” Phillips said.
source: Dipilama
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Bitcoin Staking
Bitcoin’s emerging ecosystem of Layer 2 (L2) scaling networks and DeFi protocols is creating unprecedented opportunities for investors to profit from Bitcoin.
“Bitcoin DeFi currently accounts for 0.1% of total asset value. “This is a 300x opportunity to grow DeFi on Bitcoin.” Alexei Zamyatin, co-founder and CEO of Build on Bitcoin, added to Cointelegraph:
“We have spoken with dozens of large Bitcoin DeFi users and funds looking to monetize their Bitcoin holdings.”
Bitcoin L2s like Babylon and CoreChain pay stakers to secure the network by staking BTC as collateral.
Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs), which represent claims for already staked BTC, are surging. As of December 19, the total value locked (TVL) of Bitcoin LST stands at over $2.5 billion, according to stakerewards.com.
Matt Hougan, asset manager at Bitwise, told Cointelegraph that a Bitcoin staking ETF could also gain traction in 2025.
“There is a lot of demand for Bitcoin yield. I’m not sure if that’s included in the ETF structure in the U.S., but it certainly is in Europe,” Hougan said.
source: stakerewards.com
RWA tokenization
Tokenized real assets (RWAs) – digital tokens that represent claims on everything from U.S. Treasury bonds to works of art – are a $30 trillion market opportunity globally, Colin Butler, Polygon’s head of global institutional capital, told Cointelegraph in August. said.
According to RWA.xyz, they already have about $14 billion in TVL. Yield tokenized US Treasury bonds are particularly popular, with a TVL of over $3 billion.
Raj Brahmbhatt, CEO of Web3 payments platform Zeebu, told Cointelegraph: “Tokenizing real-world assets like real estate and carbon credits will not only unlock unprecedented liquidity, but advances in payments technology will further simplify cross-border remittances. .”
Even the U.S. Treasury has praised the potential of tokenization to improve liquidity and reduce “operational and settlement friction.”
“In the United States, we are actively optimistic that with (President-elect Donald) Trump’s victory, the United States will become a global leader in this field by the end of this year,” Brambhart said.
source: RWA.xyz
Agent AI
According to CoinGecko, by 2024, the market capitalization of tokens linked to agent AIs (machines that pursue complex goals autonomously) will total $10 billion.
Analysts expect the convergence of artificial intelligence and blockchain technology to transform Web3, creating a future where self-directed AI builds decentralized applications and transacts with human users.
JD Seraphine, CEO of AI protocol Raiinmaker, told Cointelegraph that Agentic AI “has already proven to be key to the future of the industry.”
Seraphine said that by 2025, “AI agents are expected to take on an even more important role in decentralized communities.”
Hougan added that the potential world of AI agents is virtually endless.
“It’s okay to not know exactly what’s going to happen, as long as you know something potentially important is happening and you want to be exposed to it.”
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