Thu, 01/09/2025 - 14:33
After the dark days of 2022–2023, the beginning of 2024 brought new optimism to the digital assets market as Bitcoin managed to regain half of its pre-crash peak and cement above $40,000. However, not even the most committed crypto evangelist was prepared for what happened next. Bitcoin has since been on a bull run to rival Pamplona, with one new all-time high after another, culminating in the digital asset's price reaching the historic milestone of $100,000 in December. Yet, the past 12 months have seen whirlwind growth not only for BTC but also a range of altcoins, and the seemingly unstoppable combination of internal and external factors looks set to propel the market forward even further in 2025.
Institutional adoption continues to skyrocket, regulatory clarity is coming thick and fast the world over, and technological advancements are accelerating rapidly. On top of that, with a pro-crypto Donald Trump White House bolstered by Mr DOGE himself, Elon Musk, the prospects are truly tantalizing. So, to ask the question on all traders' and investors' lips, what will be the key factors to keep an eye on in 2025, and which projects are the ones to watch?
It's all coming up crypto
As we've touched upon already, institutional adoption has been huge for BTC in 2024. Major names like BlackRock, BNY Mellon, and Fidelity added Bitcoin to their offerings, while spot ETFs brought regulated avenues for pension funds and other pools to gain exposure. The impact of this new liquidity and the reduced volatility it entails will make BTC even more attractive to investors in 2025. Trump's inauguration on 20 January will also mark the start of a pro-crypto political era, with the new president promising multiple times to make the US the "crypto capital of the world".
Furthermore, given Elon Musk's position in the new administration, hopes of more straightforward regulation and fewer restrictions seem well founded. After all, even before Trump, the SEC had already taken a key step in approving BTC and ETH ETFs, so it's only reasonable to expect the favourable stance to at least persist, if not intensify. The monetary policy position of the Federal Reserve is also largely supportive of risk assets like cryptocurrencies, and the US regulator's continued dovish stance appears to be a harbinger of more rate cuts in 2025. Even if you don't agree with CNBC analyst Tom Lee's target of $250,000 or Matthew Sigel of VanEck's $180,000 figure, the combination of all these background factors will undoubtedly buoy large-cap crypto projects like BTC.
What's the use?
With the pace of technological advancements quickening significantly, the fortunes of many projects will increasingly lie in their utility and suitability for specific purposes. It can even be said that much of Bitcoin's late popularity and gains are the result of its finally becoming a reliable store of value to rival gold. That said, many believe that 2025 will be the year of the altcoin, with XRP already emerging as a frontrunner following gains of over 400% in the last two months. The huge success of the previously ailing token is largely due to a combination of the launch of its RLUSD stablecoin and the SEC dropping its case against its parent company Ripple. As a platform capable of settling cross-border transactions in an average of 3-5 seconds, its utility speaks for itself in a world where DeFi is becoming more and more widespread.
With the shadow of regulatory scrutiny and uncertainty removed, it's reasonable to think that XRP's can continue to gain this year, too. The generally more favourable environment for crypto is also expected to lead to a rise in the number of new projects, all of which will need a blockchain to run on. Despite falling out of the limelight somewhat in the latest bull run, Ethereum is still the most likely candidate for many of these, given its tried-and-true pedigree over newer platforms like SOL, especially since the launch of Ethereum 3.0 brought a newer, faster PoS model. With ETH still lagging way behind BTC and other altcoins, it could represent very good value for money at its current price of $3,288 (as of 09/01/2025).
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