We’re excited about some of the trends
a16z recently released a comprehensive list of “Big Ideas” covering AI, American Dynamism, Bio/Health, Crypto, Enterprise, FinTech, Gaming, and Infrastructure, sharing partners’ thoughts on new directions the tech space may take in the coming year.
Below is a selection of the “big ideas” from a number of crypto team members. To learn more, read the full article. You can also check out the ideas presented in previous years here and here.
In addition, if you’d like to see what’s ahead for 2025 in terms of policy, regulation, and more, check out the article we published in November.
- More Businesses Will Accept Stablecoin Payments
Over the past year, stablecoins have found a product-market fit – not surprisingly, since they’re the cheapest way to remit a dollar, allowing for fast global payments. Stablecoins also offer a more accessible platform for entrepreneurs building new payment products: no gatekeepers, minimum balances, or proprietary SDKs are required, but large corporations have yet to truly realize the significant cost savings, and resulting profit margins, that switching to these payment tracks can bring them.
We’ve observed some corporate interest in stablecoins (and early adoption in the peer-to-peer payments space), but I expect a much larger wave of experimentation in 2025. Small and mid-sized businesses that have strong brands, a firm grip on their users, and are plagued by high payment fees – e.g., restaurants, coffee shops, small stores – will be the first to move from credit cards to stablecoin payments. They don’t benefit from the fraud protection of credit cards for face-to-face transactions, but they do incur a $0.30 per transaction fee, which is not insignificant for a low-value-per-unit business like selling coffee.
We should also expect larger businesses to adopt stablecoin. If stablecoin does accelerate the historical process in the banking industry, businesses will want to bypass payment providers and take about 2% of the profit margin directly into their own pockets. At the same time, businesses will begin to look for new solutions to other features currently offered by credit card companies, such as fraud prevention and identity services.
–Sam Broner [@sambroner] | [@sambroner] on Farcaster
- countries explore putting government bonds on the blockchain
Putting government bonds on the blockchain creates a digital asset that is backed by the government and generates interest – but doesn’t raise the same concerns about regulatory monitoring that central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) do. These products can also be used as collateral in lending and derivatives agreements in decentralized finance (DeFi), tapping into new sources of demand and bringing greater robustness and credibility to these ecosystems.
Thus, as pro-innovation governments globally continue to explore the benefits of a public, permissionless and irrevocable blockchain, certain countries may pilot on-chain versions of government bonds this year. In the U.K., the financial regulator FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) is looking at digital securities through a sandbox approach; its Treasury / Chancellor of the Exchequer has also expressed interest in issuing digital treasury bonds.
In the U.S., as the SEC next year will require that Treasuries be cleared through traditional and cumbersome and expensive infrastructure, expect more discussion around how blockchain can improve transparency, efficiency and engagement in bond trading.
–Brian Quintenz [@brianquintenz] | [@brianq] on Farcaster
- “DUNA” is expected to be widely used in the U.S. blockchain network
In 2024, the state of Wyoming passed a new bill formally recognizing DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) as legal entities.DUNA (“Decentralized Unincorporated Public Benefit Organizations”) is tailor-made for decentralized governance on the chain, and is the only viable structure for a U.S.-oriented project. By incorporating DUNA into the decentralized entity structure, crypto projects and other decentralized communities can give legitimacy to their DAOs – both to facilitate economic activity, avoid liability for token holders, and manage tax and compliance needs.
DAOs-communities that govern open blockchain networks-are a necessary tool to ensure that the network remains open, does not discriminate against users, and does not unfairly extract value.DUNA can unlock the potential of DAOs, and a number of projects are already trying to implement them. As the U.S. aggressively supports and accelerates the crypto ecosystem in 2025, I believe DUNA will become the common standard for U.S. projects. We also expect similar structures to be put in place in other states (Wyoming was a step ahead; they were also the first state to adopt the now-popular LLC system back in the day) – especially as other decentralized application scenarios (e.g., physical infrastructure / energy grids) begin to emerge as well.
–Miles Jennings [@milesjennings] | [@milesjennings] on Farcaster
- Builders will be more likely to “reuse” rather than just “rebuild” infrastructure.
Over the past year, teams have been “reinventing the wheel” at all levels of the blockchain stack – yet another new set of verifiers, consensus protocol implementation, execution engine, programming language, RPC APIs – and while there have been minor improvements in specific features, they have often led to many common or foundational features. results in the absence of many generic or foundational features. Take the Proof of Zero Knowledge (SNARK) dedicated programming language for example: ideally, it would help the ideal developer write a better performing SNARK, but in reality, it may be inferior to the general-purpose language in terms of compiler optimization, developer tools, e-learning materials, AI programming support, etc.-and the result is even inferior to the latter .
As a result, I expect that in 2025 more teams will “reuse” the work of others in blockchain development, such as using existing consensus protocols, existing collateralized capital, and off-the-shelf proof systems, rather than building from scratch. This not only saves a lot of time and effort, but also allows teams to focus on core competencies that truly differentiate the value of their products/services.
Blockchain infrastructure is now sufficient to support Web3 products and services for the general public. As in any industry, the teams that successfully integrate complex supply chains have the best chance of delivering a good product, not the teams that frown on all things “not in-house”.
–Joachim Neu [@jneu_net].
- The crypto industry is finally getting its own app store and distribution.
When crypto apps are blocked by centralized platforms like Apple’s App Store or Google Play, their new users are severely limited. But we’re already seeing some new app stores and marketplaces offering this kind of distribution and exploration without similar barriers to entry. Worldcoin’s World App, for example, has built a “mini apps” aggregator that gives hundreds of thousands of users access to a number of different apps in a matter of days while verifying their identity. Another example is the free dApp Store for Solana cell phone users. Both of these examples also show that it’s not just innovation at the software level-hardware is also contributing to the development of crypto app stores, such as smartphones and iris scanners (orbs), just as Apple devices did for the early app ecosystem. ecosystem.
Meanwhile, there are other app stores on popular public chain ecosystems that aggregate thousands of decentralized apps and Web3 developer tools (e.g., Alchemy), and in the case of some games, the blockchain acts as both publisher and distributor (e.g., Ronin). But it’s not all “fun”: it’s difficult to channel users to the blockchain for a product that already has a distribution channel on an instant messaging app (there are exceptions: Telegram/TON network), and the same goes for apps that already have a large distribution on the Web2. However, we may see more of these migrations in 2025.
–Maggie Hsu [@meigga] | [@maggiehsu] on Farcaster
- “People who hold cryptocurrencies” will eventually become “people who use cryptocurrencies.”
In 2024, cryptocurrencies as a political movement made significant progress, with major policymakers and political figures beginning to publicly support crypto; at the same time, crypto continued to grow in the financial sector (e.g., Bitcoin and Ether ETPs were opened up to a wider range of investors). Looking ahead to 2025, crypto should further evolve into a “movement of computing. So where will the next wave of users come from?
I think it’s time to re-talk to the “passive” cryptocurrency holders and turn them into active crypto users, as only 5%-10% of crypto holders are actually using crypto at the moment. We can bring those 617 million people who already own cryptocurrencies onto the chain – especially as the blockchain infrastructure continues to improve and transaction fees come down further, which will allow many new applications to emerge and serve existing and new users. At the same time, early adopters that we’ve already seen before in stablecoin, DeFi, NFT, gaming, social, DePIN, DAO, prediction markets, etc. are now improving user experience and other aspects of the chain to make it more accessible to mainstream users.
–Daren Matsuoka [@darenmatsuoka] | [@darenmatsuoka]
- “Hidden wires” will help Web3 explode into apps
Some of blockchain’s “technological superpowers” are what set it apart, but they also prevent mainstream adoption. For creators and fans, blockchain offers more opportunities for “connectivity, ownership, and monetization” …… But common industry jargon (e.g., “NFTs”, “zkRollups”, etc.) and the complexity of the design thinking stops the people who need these technologies the most. I’ve sensed this in my conversations with a number of media, music, and fashion executives who are interested in Web3.
Many consumer technology products follow a similar path of popularization: from a “technological starting point”; then a legendary company/designer abstracts the complexity; and then the move leads to a true “breakthrough application”. Look back at the history of email – the SMTP protocol hidden behind the “send” button, or the credit card, with its payment track invisible to most users. Consider Spotify, which revolutionized the music industry not by trumpeting audio formats, but by putting playlists at your fingertips. As Nassim Taleb says, “Over-engineering creates vulnerability. Simplicity scales.”
Because of this, I think that in 2025 our industry will be more consciously following the concept of “hidden wires”. The best decentralized apps are already enhancing more intuitive interfaces, making actions as simple as a tap or swipe of a card, and in 2025, more companies will strive to simplify design and communicate clearly; successful products will not be about “explaining” but about “solving problems. Successful products are not about “explaining,” they’re about “solving.
–Chris Lyons [@chrislyons] | [@chrislyons]
