There was a tangible shift for cryptocurrency in 2025, moving from the edge of finance closer to the centre. Big institutional partnerships were announced, banks launched tokenisation initiatives and bitcoin again reached new highs with relatively little fanfare, a sign of how far the industry has come. Here are the key themes that defined the year in crypto.
Crypto goes mainstream
Total crypto market capitalisation exceeded $4-trillion for the first time. By comparison, gold sits at about $30-trillion and the S&P 500 between $58-trillion and $62-trillion.
Growth was driven by institutionalisation, with significant trading volumes flowing through professional investors, supported by crypto-friendly regulations in the US and abroad. Traditional financial institutions also integrated crypto technology, with JPMorgan, BlackRock, Visa and Stripe using crypto for efficient, frictionless value transfer. Locally, Discovery Bank partnered with Luno to make crypto investing accessible to clients, marking a significant step in adoption.
Bitcoin behaves differently
Bitcoin’s 2024/2025 cycle diverged from its historical boom-and-bust pattern. For the first time, bitcoin peaked before halving rather than after. Growth this year has been smoother, with lower volatility, attributed largely to institutional “smart money”. Though some say the four-year cycle is no longer relevant, others view halvings as short-term events in a longer maturation process.
Real-world things continue to be tokenised
Tokenisation continued to gain traction in 2025 and is expected to accelerate in 2026. McKinsey’s From Ripples to Waves report estimates that by 2030, assets worth between $2-trillion and $4-trillion could be tokenised and traded on-chain.
Luno gave customers access to more than 60 of the largest US stocks tokenised on-chain, allowing 24/7 trading without currency conversions. Markets are expected to open further, so everyday investors will have greater access to markets as tokenised assets beyond stocks become more widely available.
Stablecoins are entering traditional markets
Tokenising the dollar was an early use case, allowing near-instant settlement, lower costs and fewer intermediaries. Other fiat currencies, including the euro and the rand, have now been tokenised, reshaping cross-border payments and remittances. Swift has announced plans to integrate crypto rails, enabling 24/7 cross-border transfers using tokenised value.
Crypto AI networks as a solution
AI is one of the most transformative technologies since the internet, but the pace at which it’s been rolled out has raised questions concerning ownership, security and monopolisation. As a possible solution, decentralised AI networks are emerging, distributing workloads across multiple participants. Helium, for example, incentivises users to provide internet of things and mobile connectivity via crypto rewards, while Bittensor rewards contributions of machine learning models, building a decentralised AI ecosystem, the worldwide web of AI.
Privacy-focused crypto
Privacy-focused crypto networks enable users to transact without revealing details. Bitcoin and similar public networks expose sender, receiver and amounts, while Zcash uses zero-knowledge proofs to verify transactions without revealing information. In 2025, the conversation shifted from whether privacy belongs in crypto to how it can coexist with compliance, audits and lawful oversight. Use cases include salary payments, business transactions, treasury management and confidential donations, where privacy is the expectation, not the exception.
*This information is not intended to be nor does it constitute financial, tax, legal, investment or other advice; nor is it a call to trade. The information is intended as general market commentary for information purposes only. Before making any decision or taking any action regarding your finances, you should consult a qualified financial adviser
De Wit is country manager for Luno South Africa
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.