Coinbase has published its 2025 Cryptocurrency Market Outlook. According to the report, the 2024 crypto market achieved unprecedented success.
Coinbase has published its 2025 Cryptocurrency Market Outlook. According to the report, the 2024 crypto market achieved unprecedented success. But reaching this point was not an easy feat. According to the report, it’s easy for people to see these achievements as the culmination of years of work. But more and more people are realizing that this is just the beginning of a much larger effort. The report focuses on five areas in particular.
Stablecoins and RWAs top the Coinbase reportCoinbase's 2025 Cryptocurrency Market Outlook. Source: Coinbase
In particular, the report focuses on five areas in five bullet points. The first is stablecoins. According to the report, stablecoins are a killer app in the crypto space. As of December 1, 2024, the market cap of stablecoins increased by 48% to a record high of $1.93 trillion. Moreover, according to Coinbase, this figure could grow to $30 trillion in the next five years. We will soon see that their most important use cases are not just transactions, but global capital flows and trade.
Second, RWA tokenization is poised for significant growth. According to Rwa.xyz, as of December 1, tokenized RWAs grew by over 60%. Thus, it reached $13.5 billion. Tokenization has made significant progress in 2024. Companies are exploring the use of tokenized assets as collateral for other financial transactions (such as derivatives trading) that can facilitate transactions and reduce risks. The RWA trend is moving beyond assets such as US Treasuries and money market funds to private loans, commodities, corporate bonds, real estate and insurance.
ETFs, DeFi revival and regulation: What to expect for cryptocurrency space?
Third, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are on the agenda. According to the report, crypto ETFs have permanently changed the supply-demand dynamics of crypto. Following the record-breaking success of the US spot Bitcoin ETF, the entire crypto market has changed. Almost every type of institutional investor now owns a crypto ETF. It will be interesting to see what happens if the SEC allows cash generation and redemption mechanisms for ETF shares or allows ETFs to include collateral. According to Coinbase, these changes have the potential to increase the potential returns for ETF holders. Thus making ETFs more attractive to investors.
In fourth place is decentralized finance (DeFi). According to Coinbase, DeFi’s revival will take it into a new era. DeFi faced some setbacks in the previous cycle. But a more continuous and resilient ecosystem has emerged. The lending protocol TVL reached an all-time high, while DEX trading volume share (compared to CEX) peaked. Moreover, the changing US regulatory environment and the adoption of on-chain verification could help pave a clear path for traditional institutional investors to join DeFi. All indications suggest that DeFi could increase its impact in the near future.
Finally, according to the report, regulations will ultimately shift from headwinds to tailwinds. The crypto market has suffered from regulatory uncertainty in the US for years, but the tide has changed. The US Congress will soon witness the most crypto-friendly Congress ever. Bipartisan support in both the House and Senate favors cryptocurrency and is likely to reach new legislative milestones. The US is expected to create a comprehensive regulatory framework, enact a robust stablecoin legislation, and end the era of sanctions-driven regulation. Overall, 2025 is expected to be a pivotal year.
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