There was not a dull day in the world of crypto in 2024. Already we can see that 2025 will possibly be an even more exciting year, with a lot of transformational milestones ahead of us. With the astronomic rise of AI, the incoming institutional adoptions of blockchain, and the Web3 tech paving its way forward, there are a lot of things to look forward to.
iGaming and game development
Games are currently one of the most successful branches of the entertainment industry. And it’s not just about the fact that games are a very lucrative business. Gamedev is also at the forefront of new tech adoption. This is why it’s no wonder that more and more game publishers are embracing crypto and NFT into their games. Even more specialized niches like eSports and iGaming are in it, and leaning more and more into blockchain options for payment and game mechanics.
Online casinos are the hotspot for live dealer crypto gaming where you can quickly deposit and withdraw funds from your digital wallet while enjoying the excitement of live iGames from the comfort of your home. Competitive online games will move to bigger support of crypto entry fees but also crypto prizes for big tournaments. On top of that, blockchain implementation into the RNG mechanisms for casinos should become standard in the future, allowing for true randomness that can be checked and confirmed through blockchain logs at any time.
Finance and DeFi
The rise of decentralized finance is far from over, and this year will prove that. The sector is on a long-running upward path, but the upcoming government implementation of blockchain and further legislation of cryptocurrencies as legitimate forms of payment will allow many undecided financial institutions to jump on this train. What we can expect is that the automated market makers are going to set themselves as the pinpoint of decentralized exchanges and allow for quick and easy peer-to-peer transactions that will change the financial landscape on a larger scale.
Another valuable tech implementation we’re looking forward to is the acceleration of Layer 2 solutions. As L2 improves the scaling problems of blockchain networks, this enhancement of inter-blockchain integration and improved interoperability should make financial transactions faster and far more secure than they already were. On top of that, there are other great upcoming changes like decentralized lending protocols (using blockchain to allow loans without intermediaries), re-staking services (allowing validators to redeploy on other PoS services), and various asset tokenisations.
AI and ML
The trick with AI technologies and crypto is that they exist in a synergetic cycle of improving each other constantly. This is why the increasing adoption of blockchain will accelerate the growth of AI and thus improve the stability and speed of crypto markets. Blockchain platforms make extensive use of AI bots which oversee security and compliance protocols. These smart scripts are trained to scan for red flags that can be used to investigate any potentially suspicious activity and thus prevent fraud and money laundering.
Another emerging innovation is the use of AI-generated smart contracts as an invaluable tool for the independent execution of transactions with high levels of efficiency and security. This new tool will revolutionize the process that needed a lot of manual attention and make it near-instantaneous, transparent, and quicker than ever.
AI agents built on the foundations of generative AI models like ChatGPT are predicted to take a more central position in this ecosystem as well. Without the need for excessive human involvement in the financial processes, these agents will be able to assist and service customers on most of the issues within the crypto market, but also transfer and digest any needed information. The close connection of AI and blockchain will grow only closer, with the possible emergence of innovations we can’t even think of at the moment.
Supply chain management
While not the most obvious example of successful blockchain integration, management of supply chains is showing an increasing tendency to lean toward crypto technologies. Since the 2020 pandemic and the massive disruptions of traditional supply chain models, there have been many attempts to figure out a better, more efficient solution to the newfound problems of delays and shortages. Blockchain integration has proven to be a great way to enhance and alleviate supply chains by mitigating significant supply bottlenecks. And it’s not just about having crypto payment as an option, although that is a step up as well.
Having blockchain monitoring the routes and demands of more and more active chains gives suppliers the ability to predict shortage risks. Additionally, the transparency of the technology is also essential for better ESG tracking, and the increased trust in environments relying on multiple stakeholders. These small, often unseen changes are a big level up for a complex ecosystem in which there are multitudes of participants that need to build on trust, and crypto technologies are the key players in that with their increased transparency and traceability.