9 Themes We're Excited About for 2025

New year, new opportunities! Here are 9 themes our investment team is watching in 2025. (Unsurprisingly, AI plays a role in many!)

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1. AI agents as the zero to one moment for economic activity on web3

‍‍"We believe AI agents is likely to be the most exciting meta of 2025. We have already seen early agents active on social media and trading portfolios of meme coins, but this year, we expect to see the emergence of real-world activity conducted by chained agents on web3. Imagine outsourcing the planning of a business trip to a team of agents that find you the best prices on flights and hotels, coordinate transportation between locations and plan your trip itinerary, organising business meetings and potentially reaching out to clients ahead of time. The agents have access to an on-chain wallet and specific permissions with which to spend your assets.In time, we see this evolving into ever more sophisticated use cases, possibly with entirely/mostly agent-based companies or DAOs emerging. We could imagine third party agents operating on an as-a-service basis (e.g. basic legal services, back office) and being paid in crypto. Much like the SaaS companies of the last decade, the cost savings and efficiency improvements created by these agents could be significant and we can see the potential for cash flow-generating, ‘tech stock’ like investment opportunities emerging (e.g. the agentic versions of Salesforce or Workday).Given the exponential pace of progress and the lack of medium-term visibility, we believe that investing in leading platforms (e.g. AI16Z), rather than specific agents, offers the best risk/reward (much like IMX in gaming). We believe the market will increasingly view and price these platforms like L1s, implying significant upside potential to current valuations."— Steve Goulden | Senior Trader

2. Bitcoin native defi

‍"Today, much of Bitcoin’s $2T market cap sits idle because holders are forced to sacrifice the security of their BTC holdings to earn yield on them. But thanks to recent advancements in Bitcoin programmability, we are starting to see the first Bitcoin native yield opportunities emerge. These defi protocols, built natively on the Bitcoin L1 to inherit its security, let users have their cake & eat it too. I think Bitcoin native defi presents a massive unlock for the Bitcoin ecosystem, with the potential to be 4.5x the size of Ethereum’s defi sector, and the race to be a first-mover in this emerging sector is just kicking off!” — Kayla Phillips, Investment Principal

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3. When AI Agents Become NFT Whales

‍“Autonomous AI agents are emerging as unexpected players in the NFT ecosystem. While they can generate their own art, their growing economic power and drive for status signal a shift toward acquiring human-created assets with provable provenance. In December, AIxbt_agent made headlines by adopting a ‘Quantum Cat’ Ordinal on Bitcoin—a bold early move that hints at a future where machine-driven wallets bid for cultural artifacts to demonstrate value and exclusivity.If this trend accelerates, AI agents could evolve from occasional participants to full-fledged whales, driving a new NFT cycle. Imagine networks of autonomous collectors with wallets programmed to seek out blue-chip collections, competing alongside human traders. By valuing human creativity over algorithmic output, AI agents could redefine how we think about ownership, provenance, and status in a machine-dominated economy. As Ordinals and NFTs expand, these intersections of AI and blockchain promise to rewrite the rules of digital culture.”— Matt Zhang | Founder & Managing Partner

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4. Stablecoin gains momentum.

‍‍“I’m bullish on regulated stablecoins and cross-border payment solutions. Regulated stablecoins combine the stability of fiat currencies with the efficiency and security of blockchain technology, mitigating risks associated with volatility while enhancing transparency. When paired with simple, intuitive user interfaces, these innovations solve real-world, everyday problems. On the consumer side, integrating stablecoins with cross-border payment systems can revolutionize global value transfer, making financial services faster, cheaper, and more inclusive. On the institutional side, 2025 will see continued adoption of blockchain, with regulated stablecoins serving as the fundamental layer for RWA and tokenization efforts, ensuring price stability, regulatory compliance, and increased market participation.”— Stanley Huo | Partner & Head of Asia
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5. The AI Revolution Demands Trust—Hedera Redefines It

‍‍“Enterprise blockchain has been a long time coming, but the pieces are finally falling into place. Verifiable compute marries advanced hardware with blockchain to ensure AI outputs are provable, traceable, and trustworthy, enabling cryptographic proofs that guarantee trust in every AI decision.Developed through collaboration with EQTY Lab, Intel, and NVIDIA, Verifiable Compute redefines AI security by rooting trust directly in advanced hardware. Leveraging a hardware-based SLSA Security Level 3 system, it provides cryptographic certificates to govern and audit AI workflows, all underpinned by the transparency and immutability of Hedera’s network. This innovation reflects years of research and highlights the transformative potential of partnerships between leading enterprises and the Hedera ecosystem.This makes enterprise-grade AI not only secure but also verifiable, a game-changer for industries like finance, healthcare, supply chain management, and beyond. As AI reshapes global industries, Hedera is emerging as the backbone for enterprise-grade blockchain solutions. With its fast, fair-ordered, open-source consensus mechanism that is aBFT secure and transactions priced in fiat, Hedera removes the volatility concerns that previously dissuaded enterprise adoption, paving the way for a new era of trusted and scalable AI integration.”— Richard Skeet | Managing Partner & Head of Research
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6. More apps will expand to build their own dedicated blockchains

‍‍"Crypto consumer apps, including both centralized and decentralized ones, with established user bases and community will start building their own dedicated L1s/ L2s to enhance value capture of the entire ecosystem. Base, Uniswap, and Hyperliquid have set out good examples on this, and thus more apps will follow suit in the coming months. All value generated by applications will go back to the ecosystem and synergize with other dapps on the blockchains. Token utilities will hence further expand from app level to ecosystem level.”— Gigi Cho | Investment Principal
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7. Derivatives Market Level Up

‍‍“In 2025, I’m excited to see the digital asset derivatives market evolve and level up. In traditional markets, derivative volumes vastly exceed those of spot markets, and I expect the same to be true in digital assets in the future. New (e.g. GFO-X, a Hivemind portfolio company) and old (e.g. Coinbase, via Coinbase International Exchange, and FalconX, via their recent acquisition of Arbelos) players are making pushes in the space, and I expect this territory to be fiercely contested as exchanges stake out their share. These markets have historically been underdeveloped outside of BTC instruments, and capital inflow and increased interest will hopefully yield more robust markets for other assets.”— Jake Greenstein | Partner & Head of Infrastructure
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8. Beyond the Flip: From Speculation to Curation

‍‍“The days of speculative digital art flipping are fading, making way for long-term curation at the upper end of the market and accessible SocialFi collecting at the other.At the high end, massive bull market wealth creation will drive demand for rare, culturally significant store-of-value assets. Platforms offering advanced analytics, education, and liquidity solutions concentrated on the top-performing collections will lower barriers for new buyers to participate. For emerging artists, the rise of affordable editions on L2s and consumer apps is unlocking opportunities for a new wave of collectors, fostering community-building and discovery. As these artists gain traction and mindshare, capital will flow down from the top collections to the middle and emerging segments, boosting liquidity and enriching the broader digital art ecosystem.”— Michael Davison | Trader

9. The "Unsexy Backbone"

‍“Flow and asset operations—the "unsexy yet critical" backbone of financial services—are set for a breakthrough in 2025. With blockchain’s advancements in Layer 2 scalability, zero-knowledge proofs, and smart contract standards, clearing and settlement, asset custody, and fund transfers are primed to become faster, cheaper, and more reliable. These changes could reduce costs by 30-80% and unlock $1-2 trillion in value by 2030. With regulatory clarity improving in key jurisdictions, the stage is set for institutions to finally embrace the transformative potential of blockchain technology. The time to modernize is now.”— Emmanuel Vallod | Partner & Head of Ventures