What to Expect in 2025?
I won’t waste time with a lengthy introduction – 2024 was indeed an exciting year. Let’s get straight to the point and see what changes I am most looking forward to in 2025:
Alternative Virtual Machines (altVMs)
2024 was a remarkable year for Alternative Virtual Machines (altVMs). @fuel_network successfully launched its mainnet, @cartesiproject continued to make steady progress, and MoveVM gained more applications with the support of @Aptos, @SuiNetwork, and @movementlabsxyz. 2025 may be the breakthrough year for these alternative virtual machines, ushering in the next wave of blockchain applications. It’s worth mentioning that the hybrid execution model by @fluentxyz will play a crucial role in this field. It integrates EVM, SVM, and Wasm into one execution environment, providing developers with the most comprehensive and flexible application building methods. What’s even more exciting is that this design is scalable, meaning that any virtual machine can be added to this system in the future. It may become the “ultimate solution” in the virtual machine field.
Chain Abstraction
Chain abstraction made significant progress in 2024. It evolved from a preliminary concept of creating an experience for users that feels like using a single chain, even though hundreds of chains are working together behind the scenes. Users no longer need to switch wallets frequently, manage multiple gas tokens, or deal with the hassle of cross-chain bridging. The UniversalX solution by @ParticleNtwrk allows users to trade tokens on any chain through a unified interface, providing a Binance-like experience entirely on-chain. The maturity of this technology will give birth to many new products, and importantly, many existing projects will start adopting these solutions. This trend demonstrates deep collaboration between projects, such as @EverclearOrg, @SOCKETProtocol, @NEARProtocol, as well as the collaboration between @sedaprotocol and @routescan_io. The focus in 2025 will be on how to make these innovative solutions more accessible and usable to a wider user base.
L1 Public Chains
If the crypto industry goes without the birth of new L1 public chains for a year, it would be missing a lot of fun. In 2024, Sui and Aptos undoubtedly shone in this field. So, what about 2025? We can expect more exciting new projects. @monad_xyz, @berachain, and @HyperliquidX may become the “golden triangle” driving industry development. Of particular interest is the HyperEVM launched by Hyperliquid. With the recent rise in popularity, how its ecosystem deeply connects with the exchange itself will be an anticipated highlight.
RaaS (Rollup as a Service)
RaaS might be one of the least discussed areas at the moment. Why is that? Perhaps it appears to be a “boring business.” However, many seemingly unexciting business models often prove to be the most valuable in retrospect. Rollups and L2 were hot topics in the crypto community in 2024, and this heat won’t fade away in the short term. With @inkonchain and @AbstractChain set to launch related services in the coming months, debates about these technologies will continue. However, one thing is clear: there will be more and more L2 chains in the future. The data speaks for itself, whether it’s general-purpose or dedicated chains. Rollup as a service platforms like @Calderaxyz have already supported the deployment of around 100 new chains, offering rich integration and customization options from day one. Additionally, @conduitxyz and @alt_layer are adopting similar models. The market demand for RaaS providers is becoming impossible to ignore.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
According to statistics from @_kaitoai, AI has surpassed 40% in terms of attention in the crypto community, making it an unprecedentedly hot topic. But my intuition tells me that this is just the beginning. The Eliza project from @ai16zdao has become one of the most popular open-source projects on GitHub in recent months. Could it become a bridge to attract new developers to the crypto space? This needs time to be validated, but it certainly has the potential to be an interesting entry point. We have already seen the initial results of AI in the real world, such as the @virtuals_io-developed @aixbt_agent. This AI entity continues to attract attention within the crypto community while providing fairly accurate information. Will the focus shift towards “interpreting the thoughts of AI entities” in the future? There is no definitive answer at the moment, but it is foreseeable that more and more AI entities will take on tasks that were previously handled by humans in 2025.
Other Projects Worth Paying Attention to
@pendle_fi continues to achieve exponential growth and is now regarded as one of the “elder” projects in DeFi. Can its Total Value Locked (TVL) surpass 10 billion USD in 2025? It’s something to look forward to. @_kaitoai is pioneering a new field called InfoFi. What will it look like in the future? The answer should be revealed next year. @Polymer_Labs will be a strong competitor in the cross-chain interoperability field, and I believe interoperability will be an important topic in 2025. @OndoFinance is driving the entry of large traditional institutions into the blockchain space. Real-world asset (RWA) and asset tokenization have become trends, but they have not fully broken through the bottleneck yet. Will 2025 bring a turning point due to a more friendly regulatory environment? The mainnet of @nillionnetwork is scheduled to launch in February next year. Against the backdrop of increasing concerns about privacy, this project may have a significant impact. What’s even more anticipated is that it is expected to lead a new wave of blockchain applications. See you in 2025.
This article is a collaborative reprint from: DeepChain.