Another year is done, and crypto is somehow at a defining crossroads—again. After surviving an all-out regulatory crusade in the United States and weathering the final dregs of the last bear market, the digital assets industry appears ascendent once more. By all accounts, 2025 looks poised to be crypto’s greatest year yet.
But how, exactly, the industry opts to navigate this moment of opportunity is far from set in stone. Regulatory moves, technical updates, and market trends could all still break a thousand different ways.
Fret not, dear reader. Decrypt is here to predict the unpredictable. Here are some key questions that experts say are likely to define the coming year—and what their answers could mean for you.
First up: How much political capital will Donald Trump be willing to spend on crypto?
'You're Welcome': Trump Takes Credit for Bitcoin Reaching $100K Milestone
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump took a victory lap alongside Bitcoiners on Wednesday, claiming credit for its recent price surge as the asset smashed its $100,000 price target for the first time ever. “Congratulations Bitcoiners,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “$100,000!!! You’re welcome!!! Together, we will make America great again!” Trump's post follows a dramatic surge in the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies since his election win, with BTC spiking by 47% over the last 30 da...
In November, the president-elect’s victory sent crypto markets soaring. It seems pretty clear that the days of the U.S. government doggedly attacking the industry’s key players are through—and that alone is a huge development.
But will the Trump Administration be willing to actively pursue policies that industry experts say are crucial to ensuring crypto’s long-term success?
“The end of the hostility is going to in and of itself be a boon,” Kristin Smith, the CEO of the Blockchain Association, a prominent crypto lobbying group, told Decrypt. “But we need more than that.”
All of Trump's Crypto Promises, From Boosting Bitcoin Mining to Firing Gensler
Former President Donald Trump has pitched big plans for crypto on the campaign trail, folding several promises into his reelection bid while trying to make inroads with digital asset owners. When it comes to the nascent industry, crypto isn’t listed among 20 core goals that make up the Republican Party’s official 2024 platform—and the topic didn't come up during his interview with Elon Musk in August. Still, in a draft document released in July, crypto was mentioned alongside artificial intellig...
Even though Trump made countless promises about the industry on the campaign trail, such commitments to particular constituencies routinely get lost in the shuffle once a president takes office and gets inundated by competing concerns—all of which will be urgent.
“There's going to be a lot of priorities across the Trump Administration,” Smith said. “If we don't have somebody there who's able to execute on those, that's going to be a problem.”
One positive indicator to Smith that digital assets policy could meaningfully advance in 2025 is the fact that, in an historic first, the Trump White House has appointed a dedicated AI and crypto czar. Venture capitalist David Sacks accepted the position in early December.
A White House crypto advisor will “ensure that things get done” by coordinating the Administration’s digital assets vision across the White House, executive agencies, and Congress, Smith said.
Trump Picks Bo Hines to Lead Presidential Crypto Council
Bo Hines, a former Republican nominee for the House of Representatives, has been named by President-elect Donald Trump to be the Executive Director of the Presidential Council of Advisers for Digital Assets. Per a Truth Social post from Trump, Hines will oversee a "new advisory group composed of luminaries from the crypto industry" and work alongside David Sacks, Trump's pick for the White House AI and Crypto Czar. "In his new role, Bo will work with David to foster innovation and" growth in the...
That sort of focus could have a massive and immediate impact on crypto’s strength, reach, and influence.
Take the repeal of SAB 121, a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule that discourages American banks from custodying crypto assets. In May, bipartisan majorities in both chambers of Congress voted to nullify the rule, but President Joe Biden shortly thereafter vetoed the effort.
If Congress was merely urged to pass the same bill again, and Trump signed it into law, that single move could usher in a whole new chapter for crypto in the United States, Smith maintained.
“It really opens up a whole new market,” she said.
The Year in Crypto: Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs Bring More Investors Into Crypto
It may feel like ages ago in a fast-paced crypto industry, but this year’s launch of spot ETFs for Bitcoin and Ethereum—in January and July, respectively—ushered in a seismic shift for the crypto industry. Spot Bitcoin ETFs have attracted mountains of cash, and have enabled investors to gain exposure to BTC without the hassle of managing private keys. They have also lent legitimacy to the asset on Wall Street. Meanwhile, spot Ethereum ETFs validated the asset’s regulatory status. And despite a s...
Even though Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs are currently trading on Wall Street, an abundance of yellow tape and crypto-related anxieties have kept the majority of American investors and businesses on the sidelines.
Allowing mainstream banks to hold crypto themselves—and passing a basic market structure bill that formally legalizes the industry—would unlock untold amounts of still queasy TradFi capital for the digital assets industry, Smith said. Such basic steps would give “comfort to a broader set of investors and market participants that crypto is a safe place to be, that they can come and invest here, and that developers can build new businesses here.”
The difference between TradFi dipping its toes into crypto, and diving in headfirst, would be seismic. The industry might get some taste of that difference in 2025.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
