In a post on X dated December 17, 2024, Jeff Park, Head of Alpha Strategies at Bitwise Asset Management, shared his personal top three predictions for the crypto sector in 2025. His insights come at a time when the crypto market has experienced significant growth, and after Bitwise released its annual top 10 crypto predictions for the next year.
#1 Bitcoin Structured Products Surge
Park predicts that by 2025, Bitcoin structured products will see an asset influx of at least $5 billion. He states, “The cold, hard truth is that most private wealth managers and institutions remain hesitant about taking on directional Bitcoin exposure.”
He elaborates that products like buffered notes and principal-protection ETFs will be pivotal in bridging this gap, offering tailored exposure to Bitcoin’s volatility to meet institutional preferences. “I predict that buffered notes, principal-protection ETFs, and similar instruments will unlock a floodgate of new demand, giving institutions access to Bitcoin’s volatility at the price they deserve, customized to their own preferences,” Park remarks.
#2 Maple Finance Outpaces BlackRock’s BUIDL
With a total value locked (TVL) of approximately $535 million as of his writing, Park believes Maple Finance will surpass BlackRock’s BUIDL project. He argues, “I hold an unapologetic view that decentralized markets, which enable novel financial primitives, will see adoption faster than ‘security tokenization’ projects retrofitting to legacy infrastructure.”
Park sees decentralized lending platforms like Maple Finance, which provide institutional-grade services, as the category winners in the near future, potentially aided by favorable regulatory changes under the incoming Trump administration. “Institutional-grade, crypto-asset-backed decentralized lending like Maple Finance remains the most promising near-term category winner, bolstered by potential regulatory tailwinds,” Park forecasts.
#3 Emergence Of A New Decentralized Crypto Stablecoin
Despite past failures like LUNA, Park anticipates the rise of a new decentralized stablecoin backed by a decentralized strategic reserve. He asserts, “Bitcoin’s role as a reserve asset is now undeniable, spanning corporate balance sheets to nation-states,” but emphasizes the crypto community’s desire for a reserve that is “decentralized free from sovereign whims at all costs.”
The new stablecoin, he predicts, will leverage heightened transparency and cryptographic proofs, aiming to restore trust and utility in decentralized finance. “Despite the scars left by LUNA, I predict a more robust effort will rise, built with heightened transparency and leveraging the long-awaited arrival of cryptographic proofs. I have some exemplary candidates in mind that can and will lead the way,” he states.
These predictions by Park come after the predictions from Bitwise for 2025. The firm has projected Bitcoin to exceed $200,000, driven by institutional investment and ETF inflows. Ethereum and Solana are also expected to reach new all-time highs, further solidifying the growth narrative in the crypto space. Additionally, Bitwise sees 2025 as potentially becoming the “Year of the Crypto IPO,” with several crypto unicorns expected to go public in the US.
At press time, Bitcoin traded at $106,794.