Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has released its latest State of Crypto 2025 report, marking a major milestone for the digital asset sector. The report paints a picture of an industry that has outgrown its early volatility and entered a phase of practical utility. Crypto’s total market cap has surpassed $4 trillion for the first time, driven by stablecoins, institutional engagement, and growing user activity in emerging markets.
For the first time, a16z introduced a live State of Crypto dashboard, allowing anyone to track metrics such as blockchain throughput, user growth, and real onchain activity. This data-driven approach captures the maturing balance between speculation and productive usage that defines today’s crypto market.
cOur latest State of Crypto report is here.
— a16z crypto (@a16zcrypto) October 22, 2025
The main theme for the year is the maturation of the crypto industry:
• Traditional financial institutions and fintechs launched crypto products
• DeFi and stablecoins went mainstream
• Blockchains got faster and cheaper
• The… pic.twitter.com/xEZoO3AX5N
Global Growth and the New User Divide
According to a16z, roughly 716 million people now own crypto, but only 40–70 million are active users. This divide reflects a shift from mere ownership to real utility. In emerging economies like Argentina, India, and Nigeria, mobile wallets are surging in popularity as people turn to crypto to escape inflation and transfer value cheaply. Argentina alone saw a 16x increase in wallet activity in the past three years.
In contrast, developed countries such as Australia and South Korea show higher traffic for trading platforms and token-related content. a16z concludes that while emerging markets are using crypto for payments and stability, wealthier nations remain focused on trading and investment.
This trend highlights the next frontier for builders—activating passive holders by simplifying onchain transactions, lowering fees, and improving user experience.
Institutional Adoption Becomes Reality
a16z calls 2025 the “year of institutional adoption.” Traditional finance has moved from cautious experimentation to full-scale integration. Firms like Citi, Fidelity, JPMorgan, Mastercard, Morgan Stanley, and Visa now offer crypto products alongside equities and ETFs. Fintech players, including PayPal, Circle, Stripe, and Robinhood, are also building their own blockchain infrastructure to support payments and tokenized assets.
Exchange-traded products (ETPs) are another growth driver. a16z reports over $175 billion locked in Bitcoin and Ethereum ETPs—up from $65 billion last year. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) became the most-traded Bitcoin ETP launch in history, while Ethereum-based products are rapidly gaining traction.
This institutional shift puts crypto directly in consumer-facing financial platforms, giving digital assets the same legitimacy as traditional investments. a16z argues that this is what finally pulls crypto into mainstream financial systems.
Stablecoins: The Backbone of the Onchain Economy
The State of Crypto 2025 report positions stablecoins as the clearest proof of crypto’s utility. Over the past year, stablecoins processed $46 trillion in raw transactions and $9 trillion in adjusted, organic activity. These flows now rival Visa and approach the Automated Clearing House (ACH) system that underpins the U.S. banking sector.
The total supply of stablecoins has surpassed $300 billion, with USDT and USDC controlling 87% of the market. Together, these tokens now represent more than 1% of all U.S. dollars and collectively hold over $150 billion in U.S. Treasuries. a16z ranks stablecoins as the 17th-largest holder of Treasuries, ahead of many sovereign nations.
Importantly, stablecoin use is no longer speculative. a16z notes that monthly transaction volumes have reached record highs even when trading activity falls. This suggests real-world adoption in payments, payroll, and remittances. As global demand for Treasuries slows, stablecoins may emerge as the new source of dollar liquidity worldwide.
Stablecoins aren’t just a crypto story. They’re a macroeconomic one.
— a16z crypto (@a16zcrypto) October 22, 2025
More than 1% of all U.S. dollars now exist as stablecoins on public blockchains.
Altogether, stablecoins hold over $150 billion in U.S. Treasuries—more than many sovereign nations. pic.twitter.com/hnCazSCqSr
The Policy Turnaround in the United States
The U.S. policy landscape has transformed. a16z highlights the GENIUS Act, passed in July 2025, as a landmark moment for stablecoin regulation. It provides clear rules for issuers, requiring one-to-one reserves, full transparency, and regular audits.
Earlier in the year, Executive Order 14178 reversed the government’s previous anti-crypto stance and directed federal agencies to modernize digital asset oversight. Soon after, the CLARITY Act advanced through Congress, signaling bipartisan agreement on how digital assets fit within U.S. markets.
The Treasury Department also lifted sanctions on Tornado Cash, a decentralized privacy protocol, marking a shift toward balanced regulation rather than blanket restrictions. For a16z, these moves restore builder confidence and allow U.S.-based companies to lead innovation rather than flee offshore.
The Onchain Economy Expands Beyond DeFi
a16z’s report tracks a sharp rise in real-world, onchain activity. Decentralized perpetual exchanges such as Hyperliquid processed trillions in trades and over $1 billion in annualized revenue, rivaling major centralized platforms.
Meanwhile, the tokenized real-world asset (RWA) market has grown to nearly $30 billion, led by tokenized Treasuries, money market funds, and private credit. a16z also highlights the growth of DePIN networks—blockchain systems powering real infrastructure like telecom, energy, and transport. Helium, for example, now provides 5G service to 1.4 million daily users through more than 111,000 user-operated hotspots.
Prediction markets such as Polymarket and Kalshi saw record participation during the 2024 election and have since sustained that activity, with trading volumes nearly five times higher than early 2025 levels. This shift shows crypto evolving into a multi-sector digital economy rather than a single asset class.
Blockchain Infrastructure Reaches Maturity
The report underscores major leaps in blockchain performance. In 2020, leading networks handled about 25 transactions per second. Today, combined throughput exceeds 3,400 transactions per second—a hundredfold improvement.
Ethereum continues scaling through Layer 2 solutions like Base, Arbitrum, and Optimism, cutting average transaction fees to less than one cent. Solana, meanwhile, has become a top ecosystem for high-speed, low-cost activity, generating over $3 billion in app revenue last year.
Interoperability is also advancing. Protocols like LayerZero and Circle’s Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) enable seamless asset movement between blockchains. Hyperliquid’s canonical bridge surpassed $74 billion in annual transfer volume, showing growing trust in cross-chain infrastructure.
a16z suggests that blockchains now rival traditional systems in speed and cost, setting the stage for large-scale consumer applications.
Privacy, Zero-Knowledge, and Post-Quantum Readiness
Privacy has re-entered mainstream discussion. a16z notes the rise of zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs across compliance tools, rollups, and web services. The Ethereum Foundation formed a new privacy team, while Paxos and Aleo introduced USAD, a privacy-preserving but compliant stablecoin.
Google is experimenting with ZK-based identity systems for secure credentialing and verification. These technologies allow users to prove attributes like age or citizenship without exposing personal data.
a16z also flags growing urgency around post-quantum cryptography, noting that around $750 billion in Bitcoin remains in addresses vulnerable to future quantum attacks. The U.S. government has set 2035 as the deadline for federal systems to adopt quantum-resistant algorithms.
The Convergence of AI and Crypto
Finally, the report explores how crypto and AI are beginning to overlap. Since the release of ChatGPT in 2022, AI has centralized around a few major players, raising concerns about data control and bias. a16z believes crypto’s decentralized structure can counterbalance this trend.
Blockchain identity systems like World ID, with over 17 million verified users, can distinguish humans from bots. Meanwhile, emerging protocols like x402 provide payment rails for autonomous agents, allowing them to make microtransactions, access APIs, and settle accounts without intermediaries.
a16z cites estimates that the AI agent economy could reach $30 trillion by 2030, with crypto serving as its native financial layer. The firm sees this convergence as a logical extension of crypto’s programmable money capabilities—one where smart contracts meet autonomous intelligence.
Since the launch of ChatGPT, crypto has lost about 1,000 jobs to AI… but it’s gained an equivalent number of jobs from other industries. pic.twitter.com/XeislcH8wW
— a16z crypto (@a16zcrypto) October 22, 2025
What Comes Next: The Internet Rebuilt
a16z’s State of Crypto 2025 makes one thing clear — the new financial internet has arrived. Stablecoins now move value faster than banks, tokenized assets trade beside traditional securities, and regulation provides clarity instead of confusion. The industry has moved beyond speculation into real economic use, where blockchains quietly power the systems people already rely on.
The next phase belongs to builders who blend finance and technology into seamless experiences. Users won’t think about being onchain—they’ll simply transact, earn, and interact across applications that use blockchain in the background. Institutions will keep bridging in, and AI will link with crypto to enable self-operating, data-driven economies.
Crypto has reached permanence. The infrastructure is live, the frameworks are in place, and adoption continues to accelerate. What happens next depends on creativity — how builders and communities imagine new ways to use this open, programmable internet being rebuilt one block at a time.
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