From cointelegraph by Alex O'Donnell

Decentralized finance (DeFi) will hit an inflection point in 2025, as Bitcoin staking, real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, and agentic artificial intelligence AI$0.6104 catalyze adoption, several industry executives told Cointelegraph.

In 2024, Bitcoin surpassed $100,000 per coin for the first time as investors poured more than $100 billion into spot BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs). 

“Bitcoin’s BTC$98,122 all-time high will spark renewed interest in crypto from institutions and regulators alike and should reinvigorate the entire crypto sector in 2025,” Dean Tribble, CEO of layer-1 network Agoric Systems, told Cointelegraph. 

In December, total value locked (TVL) in DeFi protocols crested $130 billion, nearing the ecosystem’s all-time high of around $175 billion in 2021, according to data from DefiLlama. Industry executives expect this uptrend to continue next year. 

“By 2025, DeFi infrastructure and blue-chip protocols like Aave, Maple, Maker will have been operating at scale for over four years,” Jacob Phillips, Bitcoin staking protocol Lombard’s co-founder and head of strategy, told Cointelegraph. 

“These platforms will become reliable venues where institutions and new users put Bitcoin to work,” said Phillips.

Related: Bitcoin yield opportunities are booming — Here’s what to watch for

Bitcoin staking

Bitcoin’s emerging ecosystem of layer-2 (L2) scaling networks and DeFi protocols is creating unprecedented opportunities for investors to earn a yield on Bitcoin. 

“Bitcoin DeFi currently accounts for 0.1% of its total asset value. That’s a 300x opportunity to grow DeFi on Bitcoin,” Alexei Zamyatin, co-founder and CEO of Build on Bitcoin, told Cointelegraph, adding:

“We have spoken with dozens and dozens of large Bitcoin DeFi users and funds keen to put their Bitcoin holdings to work earning yield.”

Bitcoin L2s like Babylon and CoreChain pay stakers to secure their networks by locking up BTC as collateral. 

Already, liquid staking tokens (LSTs) representing claims on staked BTC are proliferating. As of Dec. 19, Bitcoin LSTs command upward of $2.5 billion in total value locked (TVL), according to stakingrewards.com.

In 2025, Bitcoin staking ETFs may also gain traction, Matt Hougan, asset manager Bitwise’s head of research, told Cointelegraph. 

“There’s a lot of demand for Bitcoin yield. Whether it makes it into an ETF structure in the United States, I’m not sure, but in Europe, definitely,” Hougan said. 

RWA tokenization

Tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) — digital tokens representing claims on anything from US Treasury bonds to artworks — are a $30-trillion market opportunity globally, Colin Butler, Polygon’s global head of institutional capital, told Cointelegraph in August.

They already command about $14 billion in TVL, according to RWA.xyz. Yield-bearing tokenized US Treasury bills are especially popular, with TVL of more than $3 billion.

“Tokenizing real-world assets like real estate and carbon credits will unlock unprecedented liquidity, while advancements in payments will further streamline cross-border transfers,” Raj Brahmbhatt, CEO of Web3 settlement platform Zeebu, told Cointelegraph.

Even the US Treasury Department has lauded tokenization’s potential to improve liquidity and reduce “operational and settlement frictions.” 

“In the US, with [President-elect Donald] Trump’s victory, I am aggressively bullish on the US becoming a global leader in the space by the end of the year,” Brahmbhatt said.

Related: Tokenization can transform US markets if Trump clears the way

Agentic AIs

In 2024, tokens linked to agentic AIs — machines pursuing complex goals autonomously — collectively bootstrapped nearly $10 billion in market capitalization, according to CoinGecko.

Analysts expect the fusion of artificial intelligence and blockchain technology to transform Web3, creating a future where self-directed AIs build decentralized applications and transact with human users. 

Agentic AI “has already proven central to the future of the industry,” J.D. Seraphine, CEO of AI protocol Raiinmaker, told Cointelegraph. 

In 2025, “AI agents are expected to take on a more prominent role within decentralized communities,” Seraphine said. 

The potential universe of AI agents is practically infinite, Hougan said, adding: