"'Tis the season for "biggest story of the year" articles and, when it comes to crypto, the choice in 2025 was not hard. The obvious pick is Wall Street's full-on embrace of crypto, which saw banks and big companies tripping over each other to show they are down with stablecoins and tokenized assets. But look a little closer and you'll see 2025 featured another major, but more subtle, trend: the ongoing expansion of DeFi and decentralized technology."
"This has been reflected in the huge growth of DeFi platforms like Hyperliquid, and in Coinbase's decision last week to add Jupiter, a leading aggregator for decentralized Solana trading, to its app. Such developments have helped decentralized exchanges nab a bigger share of overall crypto trading volume, with degens now accounting for a double digital share of the spot trading market."
"The CEO of Maple Finance, one of the leading players in the decentralized space, this week went so far as to claim 'DeFi is dead'-implying that on-chain trading has become so big that it is poised to swallow conventional systems altogether. I wouldn't go that far (at least not for a few years), but you get the point."
In 2025 Wall Street embraced crypto as banks and major companies adopted stablecoins and tokenized assets. DeFi platforms such as Hyperliquid grew rapidly, and Coinbase added Jupiter, a Solana trading aggregator, expanding decentralized trading options. Decentralized exchanges captured a larger share of spot trading volume, with retail traders gaining a double-digit share. Some industry voices claim on-chain trading may overtake conventional systems. The growing participation of institutions like JPMorgan and BlackRock in on-chain funds for large investors raises questions about the practical meaning of decentralization. Blockchain utility for institutional finance coexists with concerns about democratization of financial services.
Read at Fortune
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]