- Eight of 10 trends relate to crypto, said research firm Coalition Greenwich.
- There’s a “love affair” unfolding between traditional finance and DeFi.
- Crypto ETFs and agile newcomers will continue to disrupt in 2025.
Crypto is infiltrating mainstream finance.
That’s the takeaway from a new report by financial analytics firm Coalition Greenwich. Analysts highlighted 10 trading trends for 2025 — many have a crypto angle.
Coalition Greenwich named 10 trends to watch this year.
1. The influence of the ETF market gets even bigger.
2. “Smarter and fast enough” generates alpha.
3. Matching buyers and sellers gets more efficient (and complicated).
4. Upstart pressure on incumbents is relentless.
5. US regulations become even more unpredictable.
6. Derivatives markets trading and innovation stays hot.
7. Market data supply and demand remains insatiable.
8. Required repo clearing drives innovation, competition.
9. The TradFi-DeFi love affair grows.
10. Investing in operations and compliance tech grows.
ETFs
Take prediction number one, which forecasts 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, said the analysts.
The firm predicts that crypto ETFs will keep devouring market share. Bitcoin ETFs already hold 6% of Bitcoin’s total 21 million supply, and their influence is gearing to get even bigger in 2025.
Incumbent threat
In the Greenwich Coalition report, trend number four predicted that “agile newcomers” will also continue to upend financial incumbents.
In November, neobank Revolut expanded its crypto exchange to 30 additional European markets, while trading firms like Robinhood are set to gain the most from a Donald Trump presidency.
DeFi overlap
The report also said it foresees a bigger overlap between traditional finance, dubbed TradFi, and DeFi. It’s a bond that analysts reckon will only strengthen this year.
“The script has been flipped: TradFi firms are introducing access to TradFi assets via DeFi mechanisms,” said Coalition Greenwich in its explanation of trend number nine.
The “love affair” has only just begun, analysts said. In fact, there are signs of this already.
One hedge fund portfolio manager told DL News that the team at the company is starting to arbitrage differences in assets between Solana and Ethereum ecosystems.
Even so, the hedge fund insider raised eyebrows at the idea of traditional entities pouring capital into crypto.
“It is so unregulated that I cannot imagine a regulated institution genuinely piling into DeFi,” the portfolio manager, who declined to be named discussing internal strategies, told DL News.
Those that have begun experimenting are probably “looking for yield.”
But firms aren’t going to native platforms. These are probably using third-parties that have underlying exposure to DeFi, said the manager.
Options
Traders can’t get enough of Bitcoin options — a trend only set to go into hyperdrive.
At the end of 2025, Bitcoin options reached a record $14 billion in volume, with majority traders placing bets that signalled bullishness.
But this is only the beginning, said Coalition Greenwich in its outline of trend number six.
Trump’s highly anticipated pro-crypto regulatory environment should kick start more crypto-related ETFs.
Coalition Greenwich did add one caveat: 2025 will be bumpy.
“The year ahead is arguably the most unpredictable since the start of the pandemic.”
Pedro Solimano is a markets correspondent based in Buenos Aires. Got a tip? Email him at psolimano@dlnews.com.