What to Expect in 2025?
I won’t waste time with a long introduction – 2024 was indeed an exciting year. Let’s get straight to the point and take a look at what I’m 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 become a breakthrough year for these alternative virtual machines, ushering in the next wave of on-chain 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 a single execution environment, providing developers with the most comprehensive and flexible application-building options. 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 could potentially become the “ultimate solution” in the virtual machine field.
Chain Abstraction
Chain abstraction made significant progress in 2024. It evolved from an initial concept of creating a user experience that feels like using a single chain, even though there are hundreds of chains working together in the background. Users no longer need to switch wallets frequently, manage multiple gas tokens, or deal with the hassle of cross-chain bridging. The UniversalX solution introduced by @ParticleNtwrk allows for seamless token transactions on any chain through a unified interface, offering a Binance-like experience entirely on-chain. The maturity of this technology will give birth to many new products, and more importantly, many existing projects will begin adopting these solutions. This trend showcases 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 widely used by users.
L1 Public Chains
If there isn’t a new L1 public chain born in the cryptocurrency industry each year, it would be missing out on a lot of fun. In 2024, Sui and Aptos undoubtedly stood out in this field. So, what about 2025? We can look forward to more exciting new projects. @monad_xyz, @berachain, and @HyperliquidX could potentially become the “golden triangle” driving industry development. Of particular interest is the HyperEVM launched by Hyperliquid. As Hyperliquid’s popularity continues to rise, the integration of its ecosystem with the exchange itself will be an important point worth anticipating.
RaaS (Rollup as a Service)
RaaS may be one of the least discussed areas at present. Why is that? The reason might be that 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 cryptocurrency community in 2024, and this heat won’t dissipate in the short term. With @inkonchain and @AbstractChain set to launch related services in the coming months, debates about these technologies will continue. One thing is clear: there will be more and more L2 chains born in the future. Whether they are general-purpose or specialized chains, the data speaks for itself. Rollup as a service platforms like @Calderaxyz have already supported the deployment of around 100 new chains and provided rich integration and customization options from day one. Additionally, @conduitxyz and @alt_layer are also adopting similar models. The market demand for RaaS providers is becoming increasingly undeniable.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
According to statistics from @_kaitoai, AI has garnered over 40% of the attention this year, making it an unprecedented hot topic. However, 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. Will it serve as a bridge to attract new developers into the cryptocurrency field? This remains to be seen with time, but it does have the potential to be an interesting entry point. We have already seen preliminary results of AI in the real world, such as the development of @virtuals_io’s @aixbt_agent. This intelligent entity continues to attract attention within the cryptocurrency community while providing fairly accurate information. Will the focus shift towards “interpreting AI entity thinking” in the future? There is no definitive answer at the moment, but it is foreseeable that there will be more and more AI entities taking on tasks previously performed by humans in 2025.
Other Projects Worth Paying Attention To
@pendle_fi continues to achieve exponential growth and is now considered one of the “veteran” projects in DeFi. Will its Total Value Locked (TVL) surpass $10 billion 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 become a strong competitor in the field of cross-chain interoperability, and I believe interoperability will be an important topic in 2025. @OndoFinance is driving large traditional institutions into the blockchain space. Real-world asset (RWA) tokenization has become a trend, but it has not fully overcome its limitations. Will 2025 bring a turning point due to a more favorable regulatory environment? The mainnet launch of @nillionnetwork is planned for February next year. Against the backdrop of increasing concerns about privacy, this project could have a significant impact. What’s even more exciting is that it is expected to lead the next wave of on-chain applications. See you in 2025.
This article is a collaborative reprint from DeepChain.