Written by: Saoirse, Foresight News

In 2025, the blockchain industry stands at the crossroads of wild growth and regulated development, with the implementation of regulatory policies, the entry of technological capital, breakthroughs in technological innovation, and the exposure of market risks intertwining. From the critical leap towards mainstream assetization to the gradual formation of a global regulatory framework, from the restructuring of industries by major players to the iterative upgrades of security technologies, a series of landmark events have propelled the industry into a profound transformation. The following ten key events not only encapsulate the annual development but also outline a clear trajectory of blockchain moving from the margins to the mainstream stage.

1. Bitcoin Breaks Through $120,000: From Speculative Target to Core Asset in Institutional Strategic Allocation

In May 2025, Bitcoin's price continued to rise, breaking through the historical high of $120,000, with a total market capitalization briefly surpassing Amazon at $2.1 trillion, making it the fifth largest asset globally. This milestone marks Bitcoin's official transformation into a "mainstream asset," as the large-scale entry of institutional funds reshapes the logic of global asset allocation.

This round of price increase is driven by multiple structural factors: the clarity brought by the advancement of the U.S. "GENIUS Act" significantly enhances market confidence, the acceleration of U.S. Treasury issuance and the high-level consolidation of gold prompt funds to shift towards non-sovereign anti-inflation assets, combined with over $5 billion in net inflows into spot ETFs this year. Local governments, such as New Hampshire, are attempting to build Bitcoin reserve structures, and publicly listed companies like Strategy continue to increase their holdings, further reinforcing the "digital gold" narrative. Trump's celebratory remarks on social media boost market sentiment, while high-leverage trading patterns on platforms like Hyperliquid accelerate price breakthroughs, with institutions like Standard Chartered raising year-end targets to $200,000, creating a resonant market pattern.

2. U.S. "GENIUS Act" Implementation: Establishing a Global Benchmark for Dollar Stablecoin Regulation

In July 2025, the U.S. "Cryptocurrency Asset Market Structure and Investor Protection Act" (GENIUS Act) officially came into effect, as the first federal-level stablecoin regulatory framework. Its implementation not only regulates market order but also strengthens the digital hegemony of the dollar. The act requires all dollar stablecoin issuers to hold 100% compliant reserve assets in dollars or U.S. Treasury bonds, clarifying regulatory responsibilities and licensing requirements, thus ending the long-standing ambiguity in U.S. crypto regulation.

This institutional breakthrough opens up funding channels between traditional finance and the crypto market, expected to generate hundreds of billions in new capital inflows. By binding private stablecoins to dollar reserves, the act also injects liquidity into the U.S. Treasury market, accelerating the global penetration process of "dollar digitalization," indirectly boosting the prices of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

From a global perspective, the act's implementation coincides with the simultaneous enforcement of the EU's MiCA Act and Hong Kong's "Stablecoin Regulation," while economies like Singapore and Japan are also refining their regulatory rules, presenting a "multipolar differentiation, rule competition" pattern in global crypto regulation.

3. Circle Lists on the NYSE: "First Stablecoin Stock" Opens the Era of Industry Compliance Capitalization

In the first half of 2025, USDC issuer Circle successfully listed on the NYSE, becoming the world's "first stablecoin stock." This event confirms the commercial viability of the compliance path for stablecoin issuers and opens a new chapter in industry capitalization.

The core support for this listing comes from the regulatory certainty brought by the U.S. "GENIUS Act." In the reserve asset structure disclosed by Circle, over 90% consists of U.S. Treasury bonds, fully compliant with the act's stringent requirements for stablecoin issuance. This compliance adaptability allowed its market capitalization to exceed $30 billion on the first day of trading.

After the listing, Circle accelerated the expansion of its business boundaries, focusing on RWA (Real World Asset Tokenization) scenarios, and building "on-chain - off-chain" liquidity bridges through partnerships with traditional banks. By the end of the year, USDC's market capitalization grew by 40%, forming a stable duopoly with USDT and establishing a development model for the industry characterized by "regulatory adaptation - capital recognition - ecosystem expansion."

4. Trump Pardons Zhao Changpeng: A Landmark Event in the Deep Binding of Politics and the Crypto Industry

On October 23, 2025, U.S. President Trump announced the pardon of Binance founder Zhao Changpeng, claiming he was a victim of "political persecution" by the Biden administration. This event highlights the shift in U.S. crypto policy and marks a significant moment of deep binding between politics and the crypto industry, directly impacting the competitive landscape of global leading exchanges.

Zhao Changpeng had previously served four months in prison and paid a $4.3 billion fine for Binance's violations of anti-money laundering regulations. Following the pardon announcement, Binance's platform token BNB surged by 8% on the same day, and the platform's valuation doubled compared to before Trump's election, allowing Zhao Changpeng to quickly resume his position at Binance, stabilizing the platform's operational foundation.

The underlying interests are clearly visible: Binance had previously assisted Trump's family business in developing the stablecoin USD1 and writing the underlying code, and this pardon is seen as a clear signal of the Trump administration's "crypto-friendly" stance. In fact, Zhao Changpeng is not an isolated case; Trump has previously pardoned several crypto practitioners, including the founder of Silk Road, continuously reshaping the underlying logic of U.S. crypto regulation.

5. Trump Issues TRUMP Token: A Pioneering Attempt at Political IP Commercialization in Crypto

On January 18, 2025, two days before his inauguration, Trump announced the launch of his personal meme coin TRUMP through social media, positioning it as "the only official Trump meme," officially issued within the Solana ecosystem. This token has a total supply of 1 billion, with an initial circulation of only 200 million, while the remaining 80% is held by his CIC Digital and the "Fight Fight Fight" entity, executing a three-year unlocking plan. The official website clearly states that it aims to support "the TRUMP symbol and related ideals," deliberately avoiding investment property descriptions.

The market response post-issuance was extremely enthusiastic: platforms like Huobi quickly listed the token for trading, with its price soaring by 1250% to 21 USDT, and its market capitalization rapidly surpassing $4 billion, ranking it fourth among global meme coins. Within just two hours of listing, trading volume exceeded $1.3 billion, with peak market capitalization reaching $80 billion. This fervor is a direct transformation of Trump's political influence — the concentrated entry of his supporter base formed short-term purchasing power support. To sustain market sentiment, the official later announced that the top 220 holders would be invited to a private dinner in Washington, with the top 25 gaining access to a VIP reception, linking the token to the privilege of "proximity to the centers of power."

This issuance triggered a chain reaction and deep controversy: on the first day of listing, it led to 176,000 people globally being liquidated, with liquidation amounts nearing $500 million, and Bitcoin and Ethereum experiencing severe volatility; during the market crash in March, the TRUMP token price fell over 12% in a single day, and by November, it plummeted from a peak of $75.35 to $6.25, a decline of over 90%, highlighting the speculative bubble characteristics of celebrity tokens. On the regulatory front, the SEC initiated an investigation citing "doubtful securities attributes," but ultimately did not impose penalties, a cautious stance interpreted as special consideration for politically connected projects.

It is worth mentioning that the WLFI token, associated with the Trump family, was listed for trading in September 2025. The project has interests tied to the Trump family, but after listing, it experienced low liquidity, with its year-end market capitalization shrinking by over 80% compared to issuance expectations, reflecting the risks and dilemmas of political IP commercialization in crypto alongside the TRUMP token.

6. China’s Thirteen Departments Jointly Issue Document: "Strict Domestic Regulation + Hong Kong Pilot" Dual-Track System Implemented

In May 2025, thirteen departments in China jointly released the "Announcement on Further Regulating and Promoting the Development of Stablecoins," establishing a dual-track regulatory path of "strict domestic regulation + Hong Kong pilot." This institutional design balances financial security with innovative exploration, establishing a regulatory framework for stablecoins with Chinese characteristics.

The announcement clearly delineates red lines, prohibiting private stablecoin trading within the country, a stance stemming from concerns over financial security — the anonymous trading characteristics of stablecoins can easily be used for illegal activities such as money laundering and unauthorized cross-border fund transfers. In 2025, a case in Shanghai involving illegal foreign exchange using stablecoins had an amount involved as high as 6.5 billion yuan. At the same time, the announcement sends a positive signal, supporting Hong Kong in conducting stablecoin pilot projects, creating an innovative testing ground for risk isolation.

The concurrently implemented Hong Kong "Stablecoin Regulation" establishes a strict access system, requiring practitioners to meet multiple standards, including a registered capital of 25 million HKD, 100% reserve assets, and monthly audits, while also launching the first Solana ETF. This arrangement attracts global Web3 projects to accelerate their entry into Hong Kong, with licensed institutions like HashKey increasing their investments, forming a complementary pattern of "offshore innovation - onshore security" with the digital yuan.

7. EU MiCA Regulation Enforced: Global First Licensing Review for Crypto Service Providers Initiated

At the beginning of 2025, the EU's "Regulation on Crypto Asset Markets" (MiCA) came into full effect, creating a model for unified regulation in the crypto industry and forcing global service providers to accelerate compliance transformation. As the world's first regionally enforced crypto regulatory framework, MiCA constructs a full-chain management system through refined classification regulation.

The regulation requires all crypto service providers operating in the EU to obtain licenses, mandatorily disclose asset reserves and risk information, and establish mechanisms for customer fund segregation, institutionally preventing risks of platform runaways and asset misappropriation. In the third quarter of the same year, the EU initiated the world's first cross-border licensing review for crypto service providers, suspending the operations of 23 platforms for failing to meet reserve requirements, demonstrating the rigidity of regulatory enforcement.

While regulating the market, the MiCA Act also carries the EU's strategic ambitions. The regulation promotes the accelerated development of euro stablecoins, in conjunction with the European Central Bank's digital euro pilot, as the EU seeks to compete for discourse power in a globally dollar-stablecoin-dominated market, becoming an important pole in the multipolar landscape of global crypto regulation.

8. Naver Acquires Upbit: Setting the Record for the Largest Merger and Acquisition in the Industry

In August 2025, South Korean tech giant Naver acquired the largest domestic crypto exchange Upbit for $12 billion, setting a record for mergers and acquisitions in the industry. This transaction marks the beginning of traditional tech capital's full-scale entry into the blockchain field, restructuring the underlying logic of industry competition.

This merger is not merely an asset integration but a strategic layout for ecological synergy. Naver deeply integrates Upbit's crypto business with its core ecosystems such as search and payment, launching "Web3 + life services" scenarios, achieving practical applications of crypto assets in daily consumption, and adding 2 million new users in just three months, validating the commercial value of scenario integration.

The merger and acquisition event has generated significant ripples in the industry: it not only sparked discussions on the relaxation of crypto regulation in South Korea, prompting the Financial Services Commission to ease restrictions on institutional investor entry, but also drove a 58% month-on-month increase in trading volume in the South Korean crypto market. As the largest among 133 M&A transactions in the crypto industry in 2025, this acquisition confirms the trend of accelerated industry consolidation.

9. Bybit Faces $1.5 Billion Theft: The Largest Security Incident in Crypto History

On February 21, 2025, the crypto industry experienced the most severe security shock in its history — the hacker group Lazarus Group successfully infiltrated Bybit's Ethereum cold wallet by manipulating smart contract logic, stealing assets worth $1.46 billion, far exceeding the previous record of the $1 billion theft from the Central Bank of Iraq.

This incident exposed significant vulnerabilities in the protection of exchange cold wallets, triggering a chain reaction in the market: Bitcoin's price briefly fell below $95,000, with 150,000 people liquidated within 24 hours, and the panic in the market led to a total market capitalization of crypto assets evaporating by over $300 billion in a single day. The precision of the hacker's attack also highlighted the shortcomings of blockchain technology in smart contract design and security auditing.

In the face of the crisis, Bybit, relying on its $20 billion asset management scale and financial support from Binance and Bitget, fully compensated user losses, avoiding a broader industry trust crisis. This incident became a catalyst for industry security upgrades, with major exchanges jointly launching a "cold wallet multi-signature standard," forcing practitioners to strengthen security measures, resulting in a 30% increase in overall security auditing costs in the industry.

10. Ethereum Pectra Upgrade: Account Abstraction Technology Launches a New Chapter in Application Popularization

In November 2025, Ethereum completed the Pectra upgrade, officially activating the account abstraction (AA) feature. This technological breakthrough addresses the core pain points of blockchain user experience, clearing key obstacles for the large-scale application of Web3.

Before the upgrade, technical barriers such as private key management and gas fee payments had restricted ordinary users from entering the Web3 space. With the implementation of the account abstraction feature, users no longer need to remember complex private keys and can manage their accounts through familiar methods like email and biometrics, while also enabling convenient features such as gas fee payment on behalf and automatic execution of smart contracts, significantly lowering the usage threshold.

The technological breakthrough quickly translated into market momentum: the number of registered users for DeFi protocols surged by 300% within two weeks post-upgrade, wallet service provider MetaMask added over 10 million new users, and daily active transactions on the Ethereum chain surpassed Bitcoin for the first time, reaching 1.8 million. This upgrade marks the transition of Web3 from a technical concept to a practical stage, providing possibilities for the on-chain migration of traditional scenarios such as e-commerce and social networking.

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The end of 2025 allows blockchain to navigate through the chaos of "lost sheep at the crossroads," stepping onto a clear path of "steady and far-reaching" amidst the resonance of regulation, technology, and capital. "With the tide high, the shores widen, and the wind is right for the sail," bidding farewell to the pains of wild growth, the industry has set sail on the winds of compliance and the vessel of technology, and the future will surely continue to write a new chapter of "hoisting the sails to cross the vast sea" in the wave of the digital economy.

Recommended Reading: 2025 Foresight News Year-End Series Collection

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