- Eight of the ten trends relate to crypto, research firm Coalition Greenwich said.
- There is an unfolding “love story” between traditional finance and DeFi.
- Crypto ETFs and agile newcomers will continue to disrupt the market in 2025.
Crypto is infiltrating traditional finance.
This is what we can learn from a new report from the financial analysis company Coalition Greenwich. Analysts have highlighted 10 business trends for 2025 – many with a crypto angle.
The Greenwich Coalition has named 10 trends to watch this year.
1. The influence of the ETF market is growing even further.
2. “Smarter and Fast Enough” Generates Alpha.
3. Connecting buyers and sellers becomes more efficient (and complicated).
4. The pressure exerted by newcomers on incumbents is incessant.
5. U.S. regulations are becoming even more unpredictable.
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6. Trading and innovation in derivatives markets remains in vogue.
7. The supply and demand for market data remains insatiable.
8. Compulsory pension compensation stimulates innovation and competition.
9. The TradFi-DeFi love affair is growing.
10. Investments in operations and compliance technologies are growing.
ETFs
Take prediction number one, which predicts a continued boom in exchange-traded funds.
“Asset managers and owners have now discovered that ETFs are an incredible distribution tool for almost everything,” including Bitcoin and Ethereum, the analysts said.
The company predicts that crypto ETFs will continue to devour market share. Bitcoin ETFs already hold 6% of the 21 million total Bitcoin offerings, and their influence will grow further in 2025.
Historical threat
In the Greenwich Coalition report, trend number four predicts that “agile newcomers” will also continue to disrupt financial incumbents.
In November, neobank Revolut expanded its crypto exchange to 30 more European markets, while trading firms like Robinhood are expected to make the most of Donald Trump’s presidency.
DeFi Overlap
The report also said it foresees greater overlap between traditional finance, dubbed TradFi, and DeFi. It’s a bond that analysts say will only strengthen this year.
“The script has been flipped: TradFi companies are introducing access to TradFi assets via DeFi mechanisms,” Greenwich Coalition said in its explanation of trend number nine.
According to analysts, the “love story” is only just beginning. In fact, there are already signs of this.
A hedge fund portfolio manager said DL News that the company’s team begins to arbitrage asset differences between the Solana and Ethereum ecosystems.
Despite this, the hedge fund insider raised eyebrows at the idea of traditional entities investing capital in crypto.
“It’s so unregulated that I can’t imagine a regulated institution really getting into DeFi,” said the portfolio manager, who declined to be named to discuss internal strategies. DL News.
Those who have started experimenting are probably “yield seeking.”
But businesses aren’t turning to native platforms. These likely involve third parties with underlying exposure to DeFi, the manager said.
Possibilities
Traders can’t get enough of Bitcoin options – a trend that will only go into hyperdrive.
By the end of 2025, Bitcoin options reached a record volume of $14 billion, with the majority of traders placing bets that signaled an uptrend.
But this is just the beginning, the Greenwich Coalition said in its presentation on the sixth trend.
Trump’s highly anticipated pro-crypto regulatory environment is expected to launch more crypto-related ETFs.
The Greenwich Coalition added a caveat: 2025 will be turbulent.
“The coming year is undoubtedly the most unpredictable since the start of the pandemic. »
Pedro Solimano is a markets correspondent based in Buenos Aires. Do you have any advice? Send him an email to psolimano@dlnews.com.
