2025 resilience and 2026 AI adoption

The past year reshaped digital assets, and this comprehensive crypto market review highlights how 2025 set the stage for a pivotal 2026.

Crypto market 2025: maturation, milestones and macro backdrop

In 2025, the crypto market hit multiple milestones, underscoring a decisive shift from retail-driven speculation to deeper institutional crypto adoption and clearer regulation.

However, volatility remained a defining feature. The global macro slowdown, persistent inflation, and geopolitical tensions tested digital assets, yet core on-chain activity and infrastructure showed resilience.

The total crypto market capitalisation in 2025 surpassed US$4 trillion for the first time. Bitcoin broke to a new all-time high above $126,000, while the US announced a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile. Moreover, Ethereum successfully completed its Pectra and Fusaka upgrades, and global retail adoption reached a milestone of 737 million owners.

The industry also pivoted more clearly toward real-world utility. Ethereum-based DeFi and Web3 applications became faster and more cost-effective as scaling advanced. Tokenisation gained momentum as a key unlock for capital efficiency and accessibility, drawing serious institutional interest. Builders expanded Layer-1 and Layer-2 ecosystems and explored intersections with artificial intelligence, prediction markets, and perpetual derivatives.

Looking to 2026, many players expect steady growth in both retail and institutional participation. New crypto-supportive policies, the expansion of prediction markets, and further progress in AI and Web3 synergies are likely to define the next phase. That said, regulatory, macroeconomic, and geopolitical risks will continue to shape the pace and direction of innovation.

1.1 Macro landscape and asset performance

The global economy in 2025 was marked by broad-based deceleration, rising policy uncertainty, and lingering inflation. Global GDP growth was projected at about 3.2%, down from 3.3% in 2024, as higher tariffs and geopolitical tensions weighed on trade and investment. Inflation averaged roughly 4.2% worldwide, remaining above pre-pandemic levels, with services inflation supported by tight labour markets and elevated trade-related costs.

Central banks responded by easing. The US Federal Reserve cut rates three times, taking the federal funds rate to a 3.5%–3.75% range by year-end 2025. The European Central Bank reduced its deposit facility rate five times, to 2.00% by the end of September 2025. Moreover, these shifts helped risk assets but did not fully offset structural macro headwinds.

Crypto assets, led by BTC and ETH, outperformed many traditional asset classes for five months between January and November 2025, while gold led for four months over the same period. From Q1 to Q3, total cryptocurrency market capitalisation increased by 29%, surpassing $4 trillion in October. However, renewed macro uncertainty triggered Q4 volatility, leaving the market down 4% year-on-year by December.

One of 2025’s defining events came in March, when the US established its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile, elevating bitcoin and other digital assets to quasi-reserve status, akin to gold. Following this, interest in Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) structures intensified. By late 2025, cumulative inflows into such treasuries had reached around $92 billion, double 2024 levels.

1.2 Bitcoin policy shift and balance sheet integration

Bitcoin’s 2025 trajectory moved from a post-halving rally to broad-based integration into sovereign and corporate balance sheets. The concept of large-scale ‘bitcoinisation’ of reserves progressed from narrative to practice, even as price volatility persisted.

On 6 March 2025, the US formally announced its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve via an executive order signed by President Donald Trump. This policy recognised bitcoin as a legitimate reserve asset, comparable to gold or foreign currency, and embedded it into the national reserve framework. However, it also raised expectations that other countries might explore similar reserve diversification strategies.

Public companies and listed funds now hold a non-trivial portion of circulating BTC. More than 200 entities collectively control about 5.1% of total supply, according to internal research. Following bitcoin’s Q4 correction, DAT companies struggled to raise fresh capital as market-cap-to-net-asset-value (mNAV) multiples swung from premiums to discounts, pressuring token reserves. That said, DAT behaviour differs from firms that hold BTC as a long-term treasury asset, and responses to price drawdowns may diverge.

Beyond corporate treasuries, spot bitcoin ETFs and listed products emerged as major custodial hubs in 2025, warehousing BTC for both institutions and retail. This helped entrench bitcoin as a macro portfolio asset rather than a purely speculative token. Between January and November, US spot BTC ETFs posted net inflows in seven months, amassing over $22.4 billion in cumulative inflows.

1.3 Ethereum Pectra, Fusaka and scaling the ecosystem

Ethereum enjoyed a transformative 2025, anchored by its Pectra and Fusaka upgrades and reinforced by rising institutional participation. These upgrades focused on user experience, mainnet efficiency, and scaling for Layer-2 rollups.

The Pectra upgrade improved user experience via features such as account abstraction and boosted mainnet efficiency by raising the validator staking limit from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH. Moreover, blob capacity per block doubled, from three to six, enhancing the throughput and cost-efficiency of L2 rollups and making DeFi and other Web3 applications more accessible.

The Fusaka upgrade targeted both L1 performance and L2 scalability. It raised the block gas limit to 60 million, enforced a per-transaction gas cap, and optimised network protocols to increase throughput. For L2s, Fusaka introduced Peer Data Availability Sampling (PeerDAS) to support larger blobs with lower validator load and relied on Blob Parameter Only hard forks to deliver predictable blob throughput growth.

Median transaction costs on several L2s have not yet fully reflected Fusaka’s intended cost reductions. However, further data over 2026 will clarify the extent of fee improvements and the upgrade’s impact on high-throughput applications, including DeFi, gaming, and tokenisation.

1.4 AI, x402 and machine-native payments

The fusion of DeFi and AI, often labelled DeFAI, gained attention in early 2025 as teams experimented with agentic AI to automate trading, wallet management, and token sniping. Nevertheless, the initial hype cooled as few applications delivered robust, real-world value for end users.

Later in the year, focus shifted to the x402 protocol, a decentralised, blockchain-based payment standard designed specifically for autonomous AI agents and machine-to-machine transactions. Technology leaders such as Google Cloud, AWS, and Anthropic adopted it quickly. Moreover, x402 enabled real-time, low-cost micropayments for API access, data, and compute, supporting the emerging machine-centric economy.

The protocol operates as an open, internet-native standard for instant stablecoin payments over HTTP. It revives the dormant HTTP 402 ‘Payment Required’ code, allowing web servers to request on-chain stablecoin payments, such as USDC, without traditional accounts or complex authentication. When a client requests a protected resource, the server returns an HTTP 402 with payment instructions.

The client then sends a signed payment payload in a follow-up request, typically via a header like X-PAYMENT. A facilitator, such as Cronos’s x402 Facilitator, verifies and settles the transaction on-chain. Once confirmed, the server delivers the resource. Designed to be blockchain-agnostic, x402 supports multiple networks and integrates with existing web infrastructure, enabling merchants and developers to accept on-chain payments with minimal friction.

The Cronos x402 Facilitator itself is a third-party service that lets sellers accept stablecoin payments without operating blockchain infrastructure directly. It handles verification and settlement of gas-efficient transactions, further lowering technical barriers for AI-driven and machine-to-machine commerce.

1.5 Meme coins and speculative culture

Meme coins remained highly active in early 2025. The launch of TRUMP and MELANIA tokens, associated with US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania, attracted outsized attention as both coins saw sharp price spikes soon after listing. However, the segment’s performance cooled later in the year.

Meme tokens are often cited as emblematic of hyperfinancialisation, where speculative, short-term financial motives dominate cultural and online behaviour. They represent the monetisation of attention, humour, and digital communities. That said, meme coins still serve as vehicles for community-building and experimentation within crypto. In 2025, activity appeared to rotate partly toward other high-beta segments, including prediction markets.

1.6 RWA tokenisation and institutional yield

Real-world asset tokenisation advanced rapidly in 2025 as institutions sought higher efficiency, better yields, and global market access. The process converts ownership interests in assets such as real estate and bonds into digital tokens on-chain, reducing intermediaries and settlement frictions while enabling fractional ownership and 24/7 liquidity.

Over the past 12 months, the overall RWA market expanded by 106% to reach $19.2 billion. Tokenised private credit and tokenised treasuries emerged as the dominant categories, with market caps of $12.2 billion and $5.2 billion, respectively. Moreover, investors used these instruments to diversify portfolios and access previously illiquid opportunities with lower ticket sizes.

Tokenised US Treasury debt led the uptrend, rising 239% year-to-date and accounting for 19% of total RWA value. Tokenised private credit increased by 46%, representing around 70% of the overall market. Large asset managers such as BlackRock and Franklin Templeton accelerated adoption with flagship products including BlackRock’s BUIDL and Franklin Templeton’s FOBXX.

In 2025 specifically, tokenised private credit recorded 116% year-on-year growth and made up 54% of RWA value, while tokenised US Treasuries grew 211% year-on-year to represent 24%. Crypto.com Exchange began accepting BlackRock’s BUIDL as trading collateral for qualified institutional and advanced traders, underscoring how RWAs are becoming integrated into on-chain capital markets and derivatives.

1.7 Stablecoins and regulatory clarity

The stablecoin sector strengthened its role in global payments and market infrastructure. By November 2025, the market value of outstanding stablecoins stood at roughly $300 billion, while adjusted monthly transaction volume exceeded $3.4 trillion. That figure surpassed Visa’s $1.3 trillion and trailed only the Automated Clearing House (ACH), which processed $7.3 trillion in the same period.

Several factors underpinned this growth: regulatory clarity, improved issuer transparency, faster settlement, and stablecoins’ potential contribution to financial stability. The market is increasingly defined by competition between traditional banks, regulated fintech firms, and crypto-native issuers. Moreover, the focus has shifted from raw issuance volume to ownership of payment rails and distribution networks.

New frameworks such as the US Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act) and the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) positioned stablecoins as core financial infrastructure. These regimes mandate strict reserve backing, robust disclosures, and redemption guarantees. For banks, stablecoins now represent both an opportunity in terms of efficiency and new revenue, and a challenge due to deposit competition and systemic risk concerns.

As the ecosystem matures, stablecoin usage is expected to fragment across multiple issuers and chains. Distribution strength, compliance capabilities, and partnerships with financial institutions are likely to become decisive competitive advantages, reinforcing the importance of stablecoin regulatory clarity for long-term adoption.

1.8 Institutionalisation of digital assets and DATs

Institutional adoption accelerated in 2025, driven by clearer regulation, RWA tokenisation growth, and the rollout of institutional-grade products such as exchange-traded products. Crypto increasingly moved from exotic allocation to integrated asset class within traditional portfolios and treasury operations.

Jurisdictions worldwide introduced crypto-specific legislation, distinguishing digital assets from other instruments. Bespoke stablecoin rules such as the US GENIUS Act, the EU’s MiCA regime, and Hong Kong’s Stablecoin Ordinance highlighted the sector’s systemic relevance. Moreover, global implementation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Travel Rule, via national virtual asset service provider frameworks, significantly strengthened AML and CTF oversight.

MiCA’s full operationalisation created the first harmonised framework for crypto assets and service providers across the EU, requiring large firms to obtain new licences and comply with stringent governance, capital, and consumer-protection rules. In parallel, the US greenlit multiple new spot crypto ETPs, including spot SOL and XRP ETFs in late 2025, enabling regulated exposure to leading altcoins.

DAT companies emerged as a central bridge between traditional finance and crypto. These vehicles allow institutions to gain token exposure via familiar equity or structured products, combining store-of-value functions with active capital deployment through DeFi strategies. However, critics raised concerns that some crypto venture firms use DATs to convert illiquid, locked tokens into publicly tradeable equity through structures such as private investments in public equity (PIPEs), effectively shifting risk to retail buyers.

By late 2025, 209 public companies collectively held more than 1 million BTC worth about $99 billion, led by Strategy (MSTR). Altcoin treasuries gained traction as well, with about 6.5 million ETH ($20 billion) and 16 million SOL ($2 billion) held within DAT structures. Strategy typically traded at a premium to NAV, peaking at 2.1x in May 2025, before slipping to around 0.86x amid risk-off sentiment.

Altcoin-focused DATs often commanded even richer valuations. BitMine Immersion, the largest ETH DAT, traded above an 8.7x premium to NAV after unveiling its DAT strategy, though this multiple later compressed. The combination of falling NAVs and tougher market conditions caused a sharp pullback in DAT inflows, which dropped by about 82.6% in November compared with July’s peak.

1.9 Prediction markets and regulated adoption

In 2025, prediction markets evolved into real-time, event-driven data infrastructures, transforming crowd sentiment into market-implied probabilities tradable as financial instruments. They offered both information value and hedging opportunities for specific events, ranging from politics to macroeconomic data releases.

Crypto.com | Derivatives North America (CDNA), a CFTC-regulated platform, positioned itself as a leading venue for prediction market users. CDNA provides legal certainty via full regulatory approval and can offer tax advantages on losses under the federal derivatives framework. Moreover, it delivers deep liquidity through institutional market makers and employs robust risk management and dispute-resolution processes.

By operating Crypto.com | Predictions as a fully CFTC-regulated derivatives product through CDNA, the platform differentiates itself from many unregulated Web3-based prediction markets. Its central limit order book architecture enhances scalability and user experience, while regulatory oversight supports stronger user protection and potential tax efficiency.

1.10 Decentralised derivatives and market structure shifts

2025 marked a breakout year for decentralised perpetuals. From January to November, trading volume on decentralised platforms reached about $6.9 trillion, a 3.1x year-on-year increase. The share of DEX derivatives volume versus CEXs climbed above 19% in October, highlighting fast-growing interest in on-chain leverage products.

Hyperliquid dominated volumes through most of 2025. Its October mainnet rollout of the HIP-3 upgrade enabled permissionless creation of perpetual futures markets. Deployers meeting on-chain requirements, including staking 500,000 HYPE tokens (about $15 million at the time of writing), can now launch new perps markets, widening participation and decentralisation.

New entrants such as Moonlander and Lighter gained visibility in Q3 and Q4. Moonlander, a leading perpetual DEX on Cronos, uses a shared liquidity pool (MLP) to boost capital efficiency and reduce slippage. It was among the earliest platforms to list perpetual contracts on equities and predictions, backed by real-time price feeds.

Moonlander supports up to 1,000x leverage for crypto and 50x for equities, leveraging Cronos’s scalable dual-chain architecture. This helped position Cronos as an emerging hub for advanced DeFi derivatives. Nevertheless, competition remains intense, and user experience and risk controls are likely to determine which decentralised platforms build durable market share.

1.11 Venture capital, mega-rounds and consolidation

The crypto venture landscape in 2025 shifted decisively toward consolidation and alignment with institutional finance. While deal count declined, fundraising concentrated into larger rounds, indicating that investors preferred scale and traction over broad seed-stage experimentation.

From January to November 2025, total industry fundraising reached about $54.5 billion, a 124% increase compared with the full-year total for 2024. The CeFi segment attracted the most capital, raising over $15.8 billion, or roughly 29% of aggregate funds. Moreover, DeFi and blockchain infrastructure secured about $9.7 billion and $8.6 billion, respectively.

1.12 Security, compliance and Crypto.com

Security remained a critical challenge across the industry in 2025. Total losses from hacks and exploits exceeded $3 billion, underscoring the importance of secure engineering, audits, and robust operational controls for exchanges and protocols.

Crypto.com continued to emphasise security and compliance. It is the first cryptocurrency company to obtain certifications including ISO 22301:2019, ISO/IEC 27701:2019, ISO/IEC 27001:2022, and PCI DSS v4.0 Level 1 Service Provider. Furthermore, the firm is independently assessed at Tier 4, the highest level for both the NIST Cybersecurity and Privacy Framework and SOC 2 Type II compliance.

Crypto.com also works with globally recognised security specialists such as Kudelski Security to stress test and audit its core blockchain systems. In parallel, it collaborates with regulators worldwide and secured multiple licences in 2025, reinforcing its commitment to legal compliance and user protection.

These initiatives have strengthened Crypto.com’s position as a leading, security-focused platform and highlight how governance and compliance are becoming non-negotiable in the digital asset sector.

2. 2026 year ahead key themes and drivers

As the industry turns to 2026, several structural themes are likely to shape the next phase of digital asset growth, including hybrid finance, prediction markets, RWAs, stablecoins, AI agents, and emerging DeFi models.

2.1 Hybrid finance and institutional convergence

Hybrid finance describes the integration of traditional and decentralised systems, combining banking stability and regulatory oversight with blockchain efficiency and transparency. In 2026, the sector is set to transition from 2025’s foundational work to commercial scale and deep institutional embedding.

Tokenisation is expected to grow by orders of magnitude, initially led by tokenised US Treasuries via money market funds, reflecting global demand for yield and on-chain efficiency. Over time, the market should broaden to private credit and experimental tokenised equities. Large managers such as BlackRock and Franklin Templeton are poised to anchor this shift, turning tokenisation into a competitive imperative for traditional finance.

Stablecoins are moving from trading tools to operational settlement rails for a digital, cross-border economy. 2026 is likely to be the execution phase for corporate stablecoin integration across banking, e-commerce, and supply chains, driven by faster, cheaper payments and improved treasury management. However, issuers face a monetisation challenge: maintaining interest income may require a supply increase of about $88.7 billion in 2026 as US rates fall.

Regulatory clarity from the GENIUS Act and MiCA, plus US political incentives to support the Treasury market, give stablecoin providers a green light to expand. Public chains, especially Ethereum, are expected to shed their ‘sandbox’ perception and function as serious institutional settlement layers. Pilots such as JPMorgan’s tokenised deposits (JPMD) should integrate with institutional DeFi venues, while Cronos positions itself as a key environment for institution-aligned DeFi and AI experimentation.

Hybrid finance will normalise digital assets within mainstream finance. Value-accrual models at protocols such as Uniswap and Lido are moving toward revenue-sharing mechanisms that reward token holders more like equity. Meanwhile, platforms like Crypto.com | Predictions aim to integrate prediction signals into the broader information and risk ecosystem.

2.2 Prediction markets in 2026

In 2026, prediction markets are expected to compete for regulatory legitimacy and mainstream usage. Expanded AI-driven participation and broader event coverage, from sports and macro data to corporate milestones, should deepen liquidity and enhance their informational role.

Regulated venues such as Crypto.com | Predictions, operating under CFTC-style supervision, are likely to consolidate US-centric volumes thanks to clear rules around custody, tax, and fiat rails. Off-chain execution models based on central limit order books, supported by institutional market makers, will help lower trading costs and slippage, improving user experience relative to fully on-chain systems.

At the same time, Web2 platforms are exploring ways to embed on-chain transparency for specific functions, such as settlement or proof-of-liquidity, while retaining centralised front ends. As regulatory frameworks mature, prediction markets should gain clearer operating guidelines, enabling closer integration with traditional financial institutions and risk-management practices.

2.3 RWAs, stablecoins and deposit tokens

The coming year looks set to be critical for both RWAs and stablecoins, as the narrative shifts from experimentation to compliant financial infrastructure. Institutions are expected to play a decisive role in driving adoption and product design.

Tokenised fixed income instruments, including US Treasuries and money market funds, are becoming the foundational layer of the RWA stack. In 2026, they are likely to anchor low-risk, on-chain yield strategies that connect traditional markets with DeFi protocols. According to Boston Consulting Group, tokenised RWAs could reach about $16.1 trillion by 2030, or roughly 10% of global GDP.

This growth is expected to be fuelled by demand from traditional financial institutions, governments, and existing crypto holders. As more capital migrates on-chain, the range of investable tokenised assets should expand, creating a feedback loop that attracts additional institutional capital and deepens liquidity.

On the stablecoin side, 2026’s central themes include transparency, regulatory clarity for yield-bearing stablecoins, and broader usage of deposit tokens. Yield-bearing stablecoins are maturing into key tools for investors seeking sustainable, permissionless yield, while deposit tokens offer banks a less disruptive path to blockchain adoption.

Deposit tokens will likely move from pilots to integral settlement tools in wholesale markets. Their main value proposition lies in allowing delivery-versus-payment and payment-versus-payment to occur on a 24/7 basis, cutting settlement times from days to seconds and reducing counterparty risk. That said, interoperability among banks will be crucial.

Following the early example of JPM Coin, additional global banks are expected to issue proprietary deposit tokens. As these systems scale, attention will shift to cross-bank interoperability and their role as a cash layer for RWA transactions, including tokenised treasuries and private equity stakes.

2.4 AI agents, data integrity and Web3 trust

The rise of autonomous, agentic AI is set to be one of the most consequential technology trends of 2026. These systems will increasingly transact, negotiate, and collaborate with each other and with traditional infrastructure, necessitating a robust trust and settlement layer.

Web3 offers decentralised identifiers, smart contracts, and machine-native payment protocols such as x402 to support agent-to-agent commerce. AI agents will be able to execute trades, manage supply chains, or participate in DAO governance under predefined rules, with key actions and data logged immutably on-chain for auditability.

As AI-generated content floods the internet, the market will place a premium on verifiable authenticity. Blockchain notarisation and on-chain provenance labels will help users distinguish human-generated or verified content from synthetic or manipulated material. Moreover, privacy-enhancing technologies such as zero-knowledge proofs and federated learning will allow AI to operate on decentralised, masked data while preserving user control.

2.5 DeFi innovation lending, stock perps and AMMs

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is expected to formalise an ‘Innovation Exemption’ framework, shifting from an enforcement-first stance to a more explicit, pro-innovation approach. This could provide a clearer compliance path for DeFi products while maintaining investor protections.

One area of rapid development is stock perpetuals, synthetic derivatives on equities that enable 24/7 trading with leverage up to 50x–100x. Unlike tokenised stocks, they do not require 1:1 backing with underlying shares, which improves capital efficiency but introduces funding-rate and oracle risks. Extreme one-sided demand or oracle errors can trigger expensive funding or forced liquidations.

Uncollateralised lending remains another frontier. Current DeFi credit markets struggle to provide scalable, permissionless unsecured credit due to default risks and limited on-chain identity. Protocols that effectively underwrite risk, manage defaults, and improve solvency tracking could unlock new forms of capital access.

On Solana, AMM design is evolving. HumidiFi, a DEX launched in mid-2025, uses a proprietary ‘prop AMM’ with dark-pool-style execution. It routes trades to vault-based, privately managed liquidity rather than public pools, targeting lower spreads, minimal information leakage, and reduced MEV and front-running risk.

HumidiFi quickly became Solana’s second-largest DEX by volume and integrated with the Jupiter aggregator, allowing orders to access its quotes seamlessly. This model illustrates how proprietary liquidity designs can innovate beyond chain-level optimisations and reshape market structure.

Fundraising structures are also evolving. Public initial coin offerings are re-emerging under more mature regulatory oversight, particularly in the US under the Trump administration. Regulated platforms offering public token sales to retail users signal a shift toward more credible, compliant fundraising compared with informal meme coin launchpads.

2.6 Ethereum Glamsterdam upgrade

Ethereum’s next major upgrade, Glamsterdam, will refocus on Layer-1 stability, censorship resistance, and execution efficiency. Two core Ethereum Improvement Proposals sit at the centre of this roadmap: enshrined proposer-builder separation and block-level access lists.

EIP-7732, or enshrined proposer-builder separation (ePBS), moves the separation between block proposers and block builders into the protocol itself. Currently, external relays and block-building markets concentrate power and introduce censorship risks. However, ePBS aims to require proposers to accept the most profitable payload while reducing reliance on third-party relays.

This design should decentralise MEV extraction by allowing more builders to compete for block space and improve censorship resistance. It also reduces trust assumptions around external infrastructure, aligning incentives more closely with Ethereum’s neutrality goals.

EIP-7928, which introduces block-level access lists (BALs), seeks to make execution more efficient. Today, nodes do not know in advance which accounts and storage slots a transaction will touch, limiting parallelisation. BALs would require each block to specify all state accesses and final values, enabling better data pre-loading.

By making state access explicit, node software can load data more efficiently, increasing processing speed and laying groundwork for future parallel execution. This should also reduce gas costs for state-intensive applications, further improving Ethereum’s competitiveness as a settlement layer.

2.7 Infrastructure, privacy and DePIN

In 2026, core infrastructure narratives will centre on the convergence of blockchain, AI, and real-world systems under a maturing regulatory umbrella. Scalability and privacy will be key enablers of institutional and enterprise participation.

Privacy, in particular, is shifting from optional add-on to essential infrastructure. Transparent blockchains expose user activity, making privacy tools critical to prevent surveillance, censorship, and front-running. Ethereum developers and ecosystem projects are exploring privacy-enhancing designs that maintain auditability while shielding sensitive data, especially for high-value institutional use cases.

Decentralised physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) are positioned to address AI’s growing demand for compute. Projects such as Akash Network and Render Network aggregate idle GPU and CPU resources worldwide, offering more flexible and potentially lower-cost alternatives to centralised cloud providers like AWS and Google Cloud.

While large foundation-model training will likely remain concentrated, the bulk of future AI demand is expected to come from inference, which is more distributed and latency-sensitive. DePIN architectures are well suited for this edge inference era, providing geographically distributed, market-priced compute tailored to AI workloads.

2.8 Crypto Market size in 2025 and adoption outlook

Despite macro headwinds, global cryptocurrency adoption advanced in 2025. By November, the number of crypto owners reached about 737 million, with an average monthly growth rate of roughly 0.8% during the year. Depending on market conditions, total owners could reach 800–900 million in 2026.

More merchants are expected to accept digital assets for payments in the coming year, supported by maturing institutional infrastructure and clearer regulations in key markets. Under US President Donald Trump‘s crypto-friendly posture, further policy support could accelerate adoption, especially in payments, tokenisation, and on-chain capital markets.

For readers seeking deeper analysis of specific sectors, including AI blockchain integration, derivatives, and RWAs, in-depth research and exclusive reports are available via Private membership, the Crypto.com Exchange VIP Programme, and the Loaded Lions NFT community.

Overall, 2025 confirmed crypto’s resilience and structural maturation, while 2026 is poised to test how far digital assets can integrate into mainstream finance, real-world infrastructure, and the broader global economy.