5 Key Indicators to Watch in the Crypto Landscape in 2025

The year 2024 was transformative for the crypto space, marked by all-time highs in activity, decreased transaction fees, and practical use cases for stablecoins. As 2025 begins, experts are looking at various metrics to understand the sector’s future direction. Daren Matsuoka, a partner at a16z crypto, has identified five key indicators shaping the crypto landscape.

1. Mobile Crypto Wallets

Mobile crypto wallets have gained significant traction, with over 35 million people using them monthly. Top apps like Coinbase Wallet, MetaMask, and Trust Wallet are leading the charge, while newer apps like Phantom and World App are also gaining popularity. This trend serves as an informal indicator of retail investor interest, with a correlation between high rankings in Apple’s App Store and rising crypto prices.

For broader adoption, blockchain developers need to find the “right balance between security, privacy, and usability,” Matsuoka notes. However, with blockchain infrastructure capable of handling “hundreds of millions — or billions — of people on-chain,” it’s a “better time than ever to build a next-generation mobile wallet.”

2. Stablecoins

Stablecoins had a significant moment in 2024, with lower transaction fees making them more useful for cross-border payments, remittances, and everyday purchases. They’re also helping people in countries with high inflation store value.

Stablecoins are already the cheapest way to send a dollar, and we expect enterprises will increasingly accept stablecoins for payments.

Despite their growing adoption, there’s still no dominant solution that brings stablecoin payments closer to traditional methods, leaving a significant gap in the market.

3. ETPs Bring Bitcoin and Ethereum to the Masses

Last year, Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETPs) were finally approved in the U.S., making it easier for regular people and institutions to invest in crypto. However, these ETPs have attracted only 515,000 BTC (around $110 billion) and 611,000 ETH (~$13 billion) so far.

Matsuoka suggests tracking on-chain deposits and withdrawals of addresses “identified as custodians of the ETPs,” noting that more institutional investors are likely to seek exposure to crypto assets, leading to increased net flows for the ETPs.

4. DEXs vs CEXs

Decentralized exchanges (DEXs) are slowly gaining market share, handling about 11% of spot trading. While their trading volume is still far from centralized rivals, the number is climbing.

Recently, DEX volume hit an all-time high — driven by a major uptick in transaction volume on high-throughput chains like Coinbase’s Base and Solana as new users entered the space.

Although Matsuoka expects DEXs to continue gaining share in 2025, it’s unclear whether retail investors will switch from centralized platforms.

5. Transaction Fees

Transaction fees can indicate which blockchain network is gaining popularity, but they shouldn’t be too high to scare users away. Last year, Solana passed Ethereum in total fees collected for the first time, despite Solana’s transactions being extremely cheap.

Matsuoka notes that many ecosystems and their associated fee markets are maturing, making it a “good time to start measuring the economic value facilitated by various blockchains.” In the long run, demand for blockspace – measured as the total aggregate USD value of fees paid – could be the most important metric for tracking the crypto industry’s progress.

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