2025 will be a pivotal year for the increased use of cryptocurrencies, according to investment firm a16zcrypto. This is indicated in a new report on 7 trends expected for this year, which is still in its early days.
“Companies will increasingly accept stablecoins for payments” is his first projection. The reason is that companies have not yet realized the significant cost savings available to them by switching to these rails instead of using fiat money.
Stablecoins are cryptoassets that maintain the same price as fiat currencies, mainly that of the United States. Therefore, they facilitate global access to the United States dollar (USD), reducing its bureaucratic and cost barriers.
For a16zcrypto, this market, valued at USD 213.5 billion, has high growth potential, due to the entry of corporations of all sizes. “While we are seeing some enterprise interest in stablecoins (and early adoption in peer-to-peer payments), we expect a larger wave of experimentation in 2025,” he says.
“Small and medium-sized businesses with strong brands, captive audiences and painful payment costs (such as restaurants, cafes, corner stores) will be the first to change,” adds the firm and investments. But, along with this, he hopes that large companies will join.
In addition to this, as a second projection, it foresees that National governments will explore the possibility of launching tokenized bonds. “It would create a government-backed, interest-bearing digital asset, without the surveillance concerns of a CBDC (central bank digital currency),” he says.
“These products could unlock new sources of demand for the use of collateral in DeFi (decentralized finance) lending and derivatives protocols, adding more integrity and robustness to those ecosystems,” he details.
Third, a16zcrypto predicts greater adoption of DUNA. This is a legal structure approved in the United States in 2024 that recognizes decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) as legal entities.
“DUNA can unleash the potential of DAOs, and several projects are already working on its implementation,” he highlights. This determination gives legal legitimacy, allowing for greater global economic activity, as well as insulating token holders from liability and also managing tax and compliance needs, he clarifies.
Fourth, the investment company expects more teams to leverage existing ecosystem developments this year, rather than reinventing the wheel. “This approach will not only help builders save a lot of time and effort, but will allow them to relentlessly focus on differentiating the value of their product/service,” he explains.
More cryptocurrency app stores and active users
As a fifth prediction, a16zcrypto view more decentralized app storesas Google and Apple restrict some. In this way, he hopes that they will become places for the distribution and discovery of technologies in this industry.
To put it into perspective, it distinguishes the Worldcoin mini app market, with the integration of more than 100,000 users in a few days.
The sixth projection from a16zcrypto is that cryptocurrency owners will become active users of the industry. Currently, it stands out that only 5-10% of people who own these assets actively use them.
“This means that new applications will begin to emerge for existing and new users,” he warns. Furthermore, he maintains that will involve greater use of existing platforms as they improve their user experience.
Finally, in seventh place, the company sees a simplification of technology on the way that will accelerate its mass adoption. For the firm, it will be essential to eliminate their complexity so that they are adopted by the general public. “As Nassim Taleb said, over-engineering creates fragility; simplicity scales,” he maintains.
“Think about where email started: SMTP protocols hidden behind the ‘send’ button; or credit cards, where most users today do not think about payment methods. Likewise, Spotify revolutionized music not by flaunting file formats, but by delivering playlists of songs at our fingertips.”
a16zcrypto, investment company.
Just as other technologies did, he believes the cryptocurrency industry will adopt this ethos in 2025: “hide the wires.” “The best decentralized applications are already focusing on more intuitive interfaces, to be as easy as tapping a screen or swiping a card,” he mentions as an example.
“In 2025, we will see more companies design simply and communicate clearly,” he then highlights. “Successful products do not explain, they solve,” concludes the company as a message for the ecosystem.
These statements take place while, as CriptoNoticias reported, bullish projections abound in the market this year for both bitcoin (BTC) and various cryptocurrency sectors.
