12 must-know blockchain trends for 2025 and beyond
The over-the-top hype faded years ago, but blockchain is settling in to make steady advances in cryptocurrency, financial services, tokenization and digital verification.
When Bitcoin debuted in 2009, it not only launched cryptocurrency but also generated plenty of buzz about blockchain, the technology that makes crypto work.
The buzz peaked in the late 2010s, when early adopters and people hyping the technology realized that blockchain wasn't delivering the major benefits they hoped for. But while the hype has died down, interest and innovation surrounding blockchain has been ongoing, according to Martha Bennett, an analyst at Forrester Research.
"Blockchain did not deliver the promised miracles, which no technology does when you overhype it. But overall, blockchain never went away," Bennett said. In fact, there's plenty on the horizon for blockchain, she and other experts said.
Here are 12 blockchain trends worth watching.
1. Blockchain has proved its value
Blockchain has shown in the 15 years since Bitcoin's debut that it is a capable technology, said Brian Jackson, principal research director at Info-Tech Research Group.
"The technology itself is an excellent storer of value, and it has proven itself," he said. "It is an excellent system." The claim that blockchain is immutable and can't be edited or otherwise changed has also held true, he said. "No one has hacked it that we know of."
2. It can be made energy efficient
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies don't rely on a central authority to oversee transactions. Instead, they use complex encryption techniques called cryptomining to verify transactions and control the creation of new units on the blockchain. The main cryptomining approach, proof of work (PoW) requires a massive amount of computing power. Miners use complex algorithms and energy-intensive hardware and software to confirm transactions.
However, another cryptomining approach called proof of stake (PoS) requires significantly less energy and computing power. The Ethereum blockchain network shifted from PoW to a PoS mechanism in September 2022 and cut its energy requirements by more than 99%. The shift, which is known as The Merge, shows sustainability can happen with blockchain at scale, Jackson said.
3. Trump's election boosted cryptocurrency
Incoming U.S. President Donald Trump has indicated his administration will be friendlier to the cryptocurrency and digital assets industry, and that has generated a lot of activity in the space, said Arthur Carvalho, associate professor of information systems and analytics at Miami University.
"There is a lot of excitement back again around crypto and cryptocurrency," Carvalho said.
4. Governments are providing more regulatory clarity
Trump has also indicated he will roll back crypto-related regulations and enforcement actions that the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as other federal agencies put in place during the Biden administration, Bennett and others said.
"With the recent political developments in the U.S., there is an expectation that there will be clearer regulation than there has been to date as well as a friendly environment to crypto," Bennett said.
Similar developments are happening in Europe, she said, citing the European Union's April 2023 passage of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, or MiCA, as proof in point. The EU law, which went into full effect in December 2024, institutes uniform EU market rules for crypto-assets, adding clarity and regulatory stability across the region.
5. Tokenization of real-world assets is on
Interest continues to grow in the tokenization of real-world assets using blockchain. Tokenization allows ownership of assets, such as real estate, racehorses and container ships, to be fractionalized and then bought and sold on the blockchain, according to Bennett.
"That's a fair use case for blockchain," she said. "But the challenge with anything like that is, how do you ascertain that the real-world asset exists and is maintained in good order?"
6. Stablecoin arrives as an alternative
The value of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin can fluctuate dramatically. Digital assets known as stablecoins are designed to maintain a stable price. They can do that because they're pegged to fiat currency such as the U.S. dollar or another stable asset such as gold.
According to the Blockchain Council, an industry association, stablecoins include the USD Coin that is pegged to the U.S. dollar and operates on the Ethereum blockchain as well as the PayPal stablecoin, which also is pegged to the dollar. Jackson said a potential benefit of stablecoins, besides their stability, is the ability to send and transfer money quickly.
7. Blockchain eyed for faster cross-border transactions
Using blockchain and blockchain-based tokens to reduce friction in cross-border transactions is another notable trend, Bennett said. "That's where blockchain remains in use, with the idea that it would be both faster and lower cost for cross-border wholesale transfers, which are bank-to-bank," she explained.
The existence of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), which are basically digital money issued by a central bank, can play a role. There is growing recognition of CDBCs as transformative tools in the future of digital payments, and more than 100 countries are actively engaged in CBDC research and development, according to a June 2023 white paper from the World Economic Forum.
8. Customer experience is improving
As the use of cryptocurrency increases, there is a growing focus on improving the customer experience, said Marc Lijour, an entrepreneur, researcher and educator as well as a member of the professional association IEEE.
One such way is through "wallet-as-a-service," Lijour said. WaaS delivers a ready-made digital wallet that integrates with applications and platforms, making it easier for people to buy and sell cryptocurrency and other goods on Web 3.0 platforms. He said WaaS also smooths the user experience by addressing key management, security and infrastructure, thereby allowing users and organizations to use it for transactions without the additional steps those processes often require.
9. Blockchain innovation is still happening
Like all things in the IT industry, blockchain technology is evolving as industry players bring new features, functions and innovations to life, Lijour said. For example, in addition to making blockchain more user friendly, vendors are looking to create interoperability between the different blockchain networks. They're also bringing developer tools to the market to smooth further use and innovation.
"The next four years are going to be interesting, with blockchain making noise again," Lijour said. "We're going to see some innovations and different blockchains getting to the next stage."
He pointed to several companies advancing blockchain's functionality as examples of innovation. There's JPMorgan's Kinexys, which is touted as next-generation financial infrastructure for tokenized investments and faster cross-border payments. Lijour also highlighted Canton Network, which claims to be the first open blockchain network designed with the control and interoperability needed to power synchronized financial markets. Then there's Quorum, which is essentially Ethereum for the enterprise and billed as making blockchain affordable and scalable for organizations, and financial services company Deblock, which merges a crypto wallet with a customer's current account.
Carvalho said some innovators are exploring how AI and blockchain can work together.
10. Blockchain enables decentralized physical infrastructure
One blockchain innovation of note is DePIN, a decentralized physical infrastructure network. This uses blockchain to control and manage physical devices, such as computers and data storage, so people can share and be paid for them without requiring a centralized authority or intermediary.
Carvalho said that by using DePIN, consumer-level PCs with powerful enough GPUs could come together to provide some of the intensive compute power required for ChatGPT and other services.
11. Blockchain tracks the provenance of data and information
In 2020. telecom giant Verizon announced the launch of Full Transparency by Verizon, describing it as a blockchain-based, open-source newsroom product designed to raise the bar for corporate accountability by providing an authoritative record of changes to the company's public communications.
Bennett said Verizon isn't the only one looking to use blockchain to prove data provenance and integrity, which she said has been much more of a topic since the arrival of generative AI and the need to ensure the right data is used to train GenAI models.
Bennett also cited interest in using blockchain to verify the authenticity of digital content, an interest driven by the proliferation of deepfakes and other doctored online content.
Jackson also named this as a trend to watch, citing Swear as a vendor that uses blockchain to verify digital content. According to the company, its technology integrates with cameras and recording devices to map the digital "DNA" of every frame, sound bite and pixel in real time and then store it on a blockchain. The result is an immutable record that tracks the content's history and integrity, the company claims.
12. Blockchain isn't ready for quantum computing
Although many heralded blockchain as a revolutionary technology when it burst onto the scene, some now warn that its usefulness could be limited because it is not ready for quantum computing technology.
"Blockchain is dependent on encryption that we expect will be cracked by quantum computers in the future," Jackson said, explaining that blockchain networks will have to move to post-quantum cryptography to ensure security if quantum becomes more prevalent. Doing so could be a challenge, especially for decentralized blockchain networks that don't have a central authority to mandate and guide such a foundational change, he added.
Mary K. Pratt is an award-winning freelance journalist with a focus on covering enterprise IT and cybersecurity management.
