Crypto Market 2024 Review and 2025 Ethereum Ecosystem Outlook

In 2024, the total market value of global crypto assets reached a historical high of $3.8 trillion. The price of Bitcoin peaked at $106,490.1 on December 17. Various meme coins performed impressively, becoming the focus of the market. The Ethereum ecosystem also experienced a colorful year, successfully completing the Dencun upgrade, and the market value of ETH achieved an approximate growth of 48%.

So, what are the noteworthy events in the Ethereum ecosystem in 2025?

Pectra Upgrade

The Ethereum Pectra upgrade is expected to be officially activated in the first quarter of 2025, including the following improved protocols:

• BLS12-381 curve operation precompiled
• Provide historical block hashes in the state
• Provide validator deposits on-chain
• Assets triggered by the execution layer
• Move the committee index out of the validation signature
• PeerDAS
• Universal Execution Layer Request
• Increase MAX_EFFECTIVE_BALANCE
• Set EOA account code for a transaction
• Increase the cost of calling data
• EOF related technical agreements

Industry insiders say that the Pectra upgrade will fundamentally change the way the Ethereum security layer operates.

Verkle Transition

After the Pectra upgrade, developers unanimously believe that the Verkle Transition is the key area of reform for Ethereum's next steps. This is a significant reform of Ethereum's state data structure, aiming to transfer all state data from the Merkle Patricia Tree structure to the Verkle structure. This change will enable nodes to generate smaller state data proofs, improve node efficiency, and particularly benefit the operation of lightweight nodes, with hopes of reducing maintenance costs.

DeFi Development

In early 2025, a well-known DEX is expected to launch its Layer2 solution's public mainnet, which could become a major event in the Ethereum ecosystem's DeFi space. This Layer2 solution focuses on decentralized finance (DeFi) infrastructure, built on the OP Stack, and operates on Ethereum's Sepolia testnet. Since its launch in October 2024, the Sepolia testnet has processed over 50 million transactions and deployed over 4 million test contracts.

RWA Potential

Decentralized Real World Assets (RWA) are expected to release more liquidity by 2025, especially in the real estate and carbon credit sectors. There may also be new explorations in the field of copyright works. As of December 24, 2024, approximately $14.9 billion in assets have been locked in RWA, with over 80,000 asset holders.

A certain investment strategist pointed out that Ethereum will experience a strong rebound in 2025, with the main driving force coming from RWA. Currently, RWA on Ethereum accounts for 81% of the entire market, holding a dominant position.

Growth of Stablecoins

Stablecoins have become one of the most successful applications in the field of crypto assets, primarily relying on blockchains such as Ethereum, Solana, and Tron to facilitate cross-chain transactions. In 2024, the circulating supply of stablecoins is expected to reach 200 billion, with projections for 2025 possibly exceeding 400 billion.

NFT Market Outlook

In December 2024, the weekly sales volume of NFTs based on Ethereum reached $304 million, a 76% increase from the previous week, accounting for 66% of the total NFT sales for that week. The popularity of some well-known NFT series continues to rise, with the sales of a certain elemental series of NFTs increasing by 226% compared to the previous week.

This trend seems to herald new opportunities for the NFT market in 2025. Some media even predict that driven by various emerging use cases, Ether is expected to reach a new high of $15,000 in May 2025. Let's look forward to the exciting performance of the Ethereum ecosystem in 2025.