On the first edition of 2025, we shared what analysts thought would happen in crypto this year.
Big numbers. Bold calls. Maximum confidence.
Now that 2025 is officially in the rearview mirror, we’re looking back at what they said…
and comparing it to what actually happened.
Spoiler: some takes aged like fine wine… and others aged like milk.
1/ Bitcoin
Many forecasts expected BTC to reach new all-time highs well above $150K in 2025.
Bitcoin did reach a record high around $126K… but then dropped, and we ended the year at around $87K.
The verdict:
❌ Bullish energy was right… but magnitude + sustainability were overestimated.
2/ Ethereum
Forecasts last year pointed to Ethereum surging into the $5.5K – $8K range.
And while ETH did see notable price increases at various points, it never went above $4.9K.
The verdict:
❌ Fundamentals did improve… but the price never matched the hopium.
3/ Solana
Solana targets were as high as $500 – $750.
And in reality, Solana and many altcoins saw a lot of interest… but no sustained breakout to those numbers.
The verdict:
❌ Ecosystem stayed alive and active, but price lagged.
4/ Crypto ETFs
The expectation was that ETFs would outperform already-strong 2024 inflows, BTC ETF assets would push above $250B, and there’d be massive ETH ETF demand.
ETF adoption did continue and became normalized across portfolios, but inflows were uneven and fell short of the most aggressive projections.
The verdict:
❌ Structural win, numerical miss.
5/ Crypto IPO wave
Forecasts named Circle, Figure, Kraken, Anchorage Digital, and Chainalysis as 2025 IPO candidates.
👉 Circle did go public.
👉 Kraken advanced IPO preparations but did not complete a listing in 2025.
👉 Others remained private.
The verdict:
✅ Circle delivered.
❌ The rest slipped.
6/ AI agents & memecoin mania
The idea was that AI-launched tokens would ignite a bigger memecoin mania than 2024.
What actually happened: AI stayed hot as a narrative, but AI agents did not dominate markets.
The verdict:
❌ Miss.
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7/ Strategic Bitcoin reserve in the US
The prediction was that the US would move toward a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
And the US did sign an executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, funded with Bitcoin the government already held.
However, no confirmed new BTC purchases took place.
The verdict:
✅ Reserve created.
❌ But the US didn’t start buying.
8/ More countries holding Bitcoin
Some analysts thought that said that at least 5 new countries would add BTC, others even went as far as to say that the number of BTC-holding nations would double.
And while there was some interest and exploration in 2025, there was no major wave of public reserve additions.
The verdict:
❌ Miss.
9/ Coinbase + MicroStrategy level up
Forecast: Coinbase into S&P 500, MicroStrategy into Nasdaq-100.
The verdict:
✅ Both happened.
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10/ Stablecoins
Forecasts called for:
👉 Stablecoin assets doubling to ~$400B;
👉 $300B in daily transactions;
👉 10+ TradFi-backed stablecoins launching.
Reality:
Stablecoins were one of 2025’s strongest themes.
Assets and transaction volume expanded materially, regulation clarity improved, TradFi participation increased, and Circle’s IPO reinforced stablecoins as core financial infrastructure, even if not every numeric target was hit.
The verdict:
✅ W!
Final verdict
2025 wasn’t about price fireworks. It was about infrastructure, regulation, and slower-than-expected maturity.
The forecasts assumed speed. Reality delivered progress – just at half the pace.
And what could we expect in 2026?.. Find out below! 👇
