What to know : 2025 was defined by a stark divergence: structural progress collided with stagnant price action. Institutional milestones were reached and TVL increased across most major ecosystems, yet the majority of large-cap Layer-1 tokens finished the year with negative or flat returns. This report analyzes the structural decoupling between network usage and token performance. We examine 10 major blockchain ecosystems, exploring protocol versus application revenues, key ecosystem narratives, mechanics driving institutional adoption, and the trends to watch as we head into 2026.
A lot happened in policy tied to crypto this year. Congress passed — and the president signed — the first major piece of crypto legislation in U.S. history this year. Federal regulators have dramatically scaled back their enforcement actions against crypto companies while announcing more rulemaking efforts aimed at bolstering the industry. Companies themselves have felt more emboldened to launch new products and services in the U.S.
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Looking back at 2025
The narrative
Last year, CoinDesk's policy team explained what we'd be looking for in 2025. Here's how we did.
Why it matters
This is the final edition of this newsletter for 2025. A lot happened, and clearly we'll all be busy well into 2026.
Breaking it down
On Dec. 31, 2024, I wrote that, "it seems pretty likely the agency may shift how it approaches future lawsuits against crypto industry participants. Less clear is how the agency might handle its ongoing cases against companies like Coinbase, Binance, Binance.US, Kraken and others. No attorney seems to think the SEC will outright dismiss these cases."
The SEC has dismissed the vast majority of the cases it pursued last year.
Other court cases largely played out as expected; Sam Bankman-Fried's appeal is ongoing, Roman Storm's case ended in a partial conviction with post-trial motions still ongoing, Do Kwon pleaded guilty to some charges and there are still a small number of active cases we're tracking.
Jesse Hamilton noted that while Congress would work on legislation, "Bottom line: Post-election excitement often settles into a why-is-this-taking-so-long vibe."
While the GENIUS Act addressing stablecoins became law — confirming Cheyenne Ligon's analysis as well — the continuing negotiations over the more important market structure bill bears Jesse's analysis out.
The regulatory world has gotten vastly more complex as far as digital assets go, in the sense that an increasing number of nations are advancing their approaches toward digital assets. That ranges from rulemakings in the U.S. to new licenses being issued in the Middle East to Russia's evolving approach toward digital assets.
This week
This week
- Happy new year everybody!
If you’ve got thoughts or questions on what I should discuss next week or any other feedback you’d like to share, feel free to email me at [email protected] or find me on Bluesky @nikhileshde.bsky.social.
You can also join the group conversation on Telegram.
See ya’ll next week!
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