Andreessen Horowitz(a16z) "In 2025, the maturity phase of digital assets will enter... institutions and stablecoins will lead."

[a16z crypto] 'State of Crypto 2025' report: Digital asset industry enters maturity

a16z crypto released its 'State of Crypto 2025' report on the 22nd. The report evaluates that “2025 is the year the digital asset industry has entered maturity after passing through adolescence.”

This growth is attributed to the full-fledged market entry of traditional financial institutions such as Visa and BlackRock, explosive growth of stablecoins, and increased regulatory clarity in the US.

This year, the total market cap of digital assets surpassed $4 trillion for the first time. Annual stablecoin transaction volume reached $46 trillion ( trillion adjusted volume $9 , growing to compete with Visa and PayPal.

Key points from the report include:

) The market is large, global, and growing

According to the report, the digital asset market cap surpassed ### trillion in 2025. Active users increased by about 10 million year-over-year to 40-70 million. The population owning digital assets grew 16% to 716 million.

a16z analyzed that “mobile wallet usage, an on-chain activity metric, is growing fastest in emerging markets like Argentina, Colombia, and Nigeria.” In contrast, developed countries like Australia and South Korea showed prominent trading and speculative activities.

Bitcoin $4 BTC( garnered attention as a store of value, breaking its all-time high by surpassing $126,000.

) Financial institutions embrace digital assets

2025 was recorded as the 'year of institutional adoption.' The acquisition of Bridge by Stripe's stablecoin infrastructure platform and Circle's IPO symbolize stablecoin issuers joining mainstream financial institutions.

Traditional financial firms like Citigroup, JP Morgan, Mastercard, and Visa began directly offering digital asset trading and custody services. PayPal and Shopify are also strengthening payment infrastructure.

Exchange-traded products ###ETPs( are the key driver of institutional investment. The on-chain digital assets held by Bitcoin and Ethereum ETPs surged 169% to over )billion, up from $175 billion a year ago. a16z noted that “digital asset treasury $65 DAT( firms and ETPs hold about 10% of the total Bitcoin and Ethereum supply.”

) Stablecoins become mainstream

The report cited the rise of stablecoins as the biggest signal of digital asset maturity in 2025. Previously used mainly for speculative trading, stablecoins have now become “the fastest and cheapest means to send dollars anywhere in the world in under a second for less than a cent.”

Total stablecoin transaction volume over the past year increased 106% year-over-year to ### trillion. Adjusted volume excluding bot trading grew 87% to $46 trillion, which is 5 times that of PayPal and over half of Visa's. Total supply exceeded $9 billion, with Tether $300 USDT ( and USDC occupying 87%.

Stablecoins have emerged as a major macroeconomic variable. Currently, over 1% of US dollars exist as tokenized stablecoins. Stablecoin issuers have become the 17th largest holder of US Treasuries, with holdings exceeding ) billion. a16z emphasized that “unlike the trend of foreign central banks reducing US Treasury holdings, stablecoins are strengthening dollar dominance.”

$150 US position stronger than ever

The US reversing its previously hostile stance to a pro-digital asset one was also effective.

This year's 'GENIUS Act' and the 'CLARITY Act' passed by the House provided clarity on stablecoins, market structure, and supervision. Additionally, 'Executive Order 14178' overturning initial anti-crypto guidelines was announced, establishing a task force to modernize federal digital asset policy.

Evolution of the on-chain economy

The on-chain economy has evolved into a diversified market. About one-fifth of total spot trading volume occurs on decentralized exchanges ###DEXs(.

Decentralized perpetual futures exchanges like Hyperliquid generate over ) billion in annual revenue, competing with centralized exchanges $1 CEXs (.

The real-world asset )RWA( market has grown nearly four-fold in two years to )billion. In the decentralized physical infrastructure network $30 DePIN( sector, Helium provides 5G cellular coverage to 1.4 million daily active users through over 111,000 hotspots.

The report noted that “while over 13 million memecoins were launched in the past year, the September launch volume decreased 56% compared to January, indicating cooling enthusiasm.” The NFT market is also shifting consumer behavior from speculation to collection-focused.

) Integration with infrastructure and AI

Blockchain infrastructure is ready to handle mainstream markets. The total transaction processing capacity ###TPS( of major blockchain networks has increased over 100-fold in 5 years to 3,400 transactions per second.

Solana generates ) billion in annual revenue from native apps, while the average transaction cost on Ethereum Layer 2 $3 L2( has dropped from ) in 2021 to less than 1 cent now.

The convergence of AI and digital assets is also accelerating. Decentralized identity systems like 'World,' which has verified over 17 million people, provide 'proof of humanity.' Protocol standards like 'x402' are emerging as the center of finance where AI agents process micropayments without intermediaries.

a16z added, “In a situation where Nvidia and OpenAI are monopolizing the AI market, blockchain can provide a counterbalance to the centralization of AI systems.”