ARK '2025 Vision': Governments have already started exploring cryptocurrency, and by 2030, BTC will have reached at least $300,000
Original Title: BIG IDEAS 2025
Original Source: ARK Invest
Original Translation: Nicky, Foresight News
1. Bitcoin: Maturation of the Global Monetary System and Institutionalization Process
Bitcoin reached a milestone development in 2024, with its network fundamentals and institutional adoption both significantly improved, demonstrating its long-term value as "digital gold."
1. Market Performance and Accelerated Institutionalization
· Price Performance and ETF Breakthrough: In 2024, Bitcoin price hit a historic high, surpassing $100,000, and its market dominance (percentage of total cryptocurrency market cap) exceeded 65% for the first time. Behind this growth, the launch of physically-backed Bitcoin ETFs became a key catalyst. The first U.S. physically-backed Bitcoin ETF attracted over $4 billion in inflows on its debut trading day, far surpassing the historical record of gold ETFs in September 2004. By the end of 2024, the total assets under management (AUM) of Bitcoin ETFs had surpassed $100 billion, with a significant increase in institutional investor participation. Meanwhile, Bitcoin's annual volatility dropped to historic lows, and its risk-adjusted returns continued to outperform most major asset classes.
· Halving and Scarcity: Bitcoin completed its fourth halving, bringing the annual inflation rate down to 0.9%, the first time below gold's long-term supply growth rate (approximately 1.7%), once again highlighting its deflationary nature. Its coded total supply cap of 21 million coins and mathematically enforced monetary policy further strengthened the narrative of "digital gold." On-chain data showed that long-term holders (holding for over 3 years) accounted for 45%, reaching a historical high, indicating the continued recognition of Bitcoin as a store of value.
· Corporate Holdings and Strategic Reserves: 74 publicly traded companies globally have included Bitcoin on their balance sheets, with a total holding of over 550,000 coins, valued at approximately $55 billion. MicroStrategy, as the largest holder, held 446,000 coins (2.1% of Bitcoin's circulating supply). Additionally, Pennsylvania became the first U.S. state to propose establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve, signaling governmental exploration of cryptocurrency.
2. Technological Advancement and Network Health
· Hash Rate Hits All-Time High: Despite a halving that halved miner revenue, the network's hash rate has still hit a historical record, indicating miners' long-term confidence.
· Runes Protocol Activation: The Bitcoin-based Fungible Token protocol has driven on-chain transaction volume to surge, with daily transactions surpassing 800,000, and the ecosystem's application scenarios continue to expand.
· Holding Behavior Longevity: Over 45% of the Bitcoin supply has not moved for over 3 years, on-chain liquidity has dropped to a 14-year low, reflecting its positioning as a store of value tool.
3. 2030 Price Prediction
ARK predicts Bitcoin's price outlook in 2030 to be:
· Bear Market Price: $300,000
· Neutral Price: $710,000
· Bull Market Price: $1.5 million

II. AI Agents: Rethinking Human-Machine Interaction and Business Efficiency
AI Agents are evolving from single-task tools to general intelligence platforms. Their core capabilities include natural language understanding, contextual reasoning, tool invocation, and continuous learning.

1. Consumer-End Transformation
· Search and Advertising Restructuring: AI-driven personalized agents will replace traditional search engines, with AI ad revenue expected to account for 54% of the digital advertising market in 2030, reaching $600 billion in size.
· E-commerce Revolution: AI agents deeply integrated into operating systems allow users to complete the entire process of product search, price comparison, and payment through voice or text commands. For example, a shopping agent embedded in a digital wallet can automatically select the best products and complete the checkout, driving digital wallet's share of global e-commerce transactions to 72% and creating an additional $200 billion in annual enterprise value. It is estimated that by 2030, such agents will drive $9 trillion in online consumption, accounting for 25% of global e-commerce total.
· Hardware Proliferation: After 2025, the majority of consumer electronics devices will have built-in AI agent functionality, with penetration curves surpassing or matching that of smartphones.
2. Leap in Enterprise Efficiency
· Customer Service Cost Optimization: AI customer service can reduce the cost per interaction from $1 to $0.125, handle 70% of inquiries, saving global enterprises over $500 billion in labor costs.
· Software Development Revolution: AI coding tools (such as GPT-4, Claude 3.5) can now address 70% of real tasks, reducing the software development lifecycle by 40% and driving enterprises from buying software to custom development. If AI agents automate 81% of knowledge work time, they will unlock a $117 trillion productivity dividend by 2030. The software market size may surge from the current $1.5 trillion to $13 trillion (CAGR 48%), with underlying cloud infrastructure and AI chip demand exploding simultaneously.

III. Stablecoins: Reshaping the Digital Asset Landscape
By 2024, stablecoin annualized transaction volume will reach $15.6 trillion, surpassing Visa ($13.1 trillion) and Mastercard ($7.8 trillion), becoming the fastest-growing global payment network.
1. Market Surge and Innovation
· Scale and Efficiency: Stablecoin annual settlement volume reaches $15.6 trillion, with single transaction values far exceeding credit cards, and on-chain settlements on platforms like Solana and Tron account for over 60%. In December, monthly on-chain stablecoin trading volume reached $2.7 trillion, with small-value transactions (<$100) representing over 85% on Layer 2. Users in emerging markets (Brazil, Nigeria, etc.) are using stablecoins for cross-border remittances and inflation-resistant savings, driving active address count past 23 million. Concurrently, stablecoin adoption on Layer 2 (Base, Arbitrum) and emerging public chains (TON, Celo) is surging, driving cross-chain interoperability needs.
· Rise of Yield-Generating Stablecoins: Ethena Labs' USDe provides 20%-30% yield through a Delta-neutral strategy, with $6 billion in assets locked in 12 months, elevating the share of algorithmic stablecoins with non-native collateral to 10%.
· Dollarization Trend: Despite many countries promoting de-dollarization, the share of USD stablecoins still exceeds 98%, with Tether and Circle holding U.S. debt at a scale ranking them among the top 20 global holders. Stablecoins have become a key tool for USD "digital export," especially amid the de-dollarization trend, where the demand for USD stablecoins in emerging markets has offset some countries' reduction in U.S. debt holdings. ARK predicts that by 2030, stablecoin volume will reach $14 trillion, accounting for 0.9% of global M2 money supply, becoming the 13th largest circulating currency.

2. Regulation and Challenges
· Acceleration of Compliance: The U.S. "Stablecoin Governance Act" framework has emerged, requiring a 100% reserve and audit transparency, further consolidating market share among leading issuers.
IV. Blockchain Scalability: Competition Between Layer 2 and High-Performance Public Chains
Ethereum Layer 2 and Solana lead the scalability trend, driving the smart contract ecosystem towards high throughput and low-cost evolution.
1. Ethereum Ecosystem Upgrade
· EIP-4844 Effect: The EIP-4844 upgrade has reduced Layer 2 transaction costs from $0.5 to $0.05, with daily transaction volume surging from 3 million to 15 million.
· Rapid Growth of Base: Base Chain's DAU share reached 46%, TVL exceeded $15 billion, Coinbase's ecosystem synergy is evident, and it has driven Ethereum's shift from the settlement layer to the application layer.
2. Solana's Retail Breakthrough
· Performance Advantage: With an average of 800 TPS far exceeding the Ethereum ecosystem (200 TPS), daily active addresses surpassing 1.2 million, and on-chain fee income accounting for 22% of the cryptocurrency market. Its low fees ( $0.001 per transaction) attract a large number of retail users, with the prediction market platform Polymarket and DEX Raydium becoming benchmarks in the ecosystem. The Firedancer client is expected to increase throughput to the hundreds of thousands.
· Developer Migration: In 2024, Solana's addition of developers surpassed the Ethereum mainnet, with Memecoin and DePIN (Decentralized Physical Internet Network) becoming dual engines of ecosystem growth.

3. Application Layer Breakout
· DeFi Challenging CEX: DEX trading volume share increased from 8% to 14%, and the derivatives market grew to 8%. The efficiency of a single Uniswap employee is 200 times that of Binance.
· Rise of Prediction Markets: Polymarket, with events like the U.S. election and sports betting, surpassed $1.2 billion in monthly trading volume with over 3 million users.

Further Maturation of Staking Economy: Liquidity staking protocols (such as Lido, EigenLayer) collectively manage over 5.5 million ETH (17% of the total staked ETH), driving the maturation of the staking economy.
Conclusion: The Integration and Breakthrough of Web3
By 2025, the monetary properties of Bitcoin, the productivity unleashed by AI Agents, the expansion of stablecoin payment networks, and the technological breakthroughs in blockchain scalability will collectively shape the core of ARK's "2025 Big Ideas." The convergence of these technologies will reshape the global economy: AI-driven computing demand will drive an energy revolution, stablecoins will bolster the dominance of the US dollar, and blockchain scalability will unlock the potential of decentralized applications. Web3 practitioners need to focus on the evolution of foundational protocols, grasp key tracks such as cross-chain interoperability, AI-native DApps, and compliant stablecoins in the fusion of technologies to capture value.
You may also like

Bhutan Quietly Sells Over $22M in Bitcoin, Drawing Speculation Over Possible Moves
Key Takeaways Bhutan has transferred over $22 million in Bitcoin from sovereign wallets in the past week. The…

BitMine Endures a $7B Unrealized Loss as Ethereum Dips Below $2,100
Key Takeaways BitMine is facing a significant financial challenge with an unrealized loss of over $7 billion in…

Trump-Linked World Liberty Financial Under Scrutiny Following $500 Million UAE Stake
Key Takeaways A U.S. House investigation is examining a $500 million UAE stake in Trump-related World Liberty Financial.…

Asia Market Open: Bitcoin Tumbles as Asian Equities Reflect Global Tech Retreat
Key Takeaways: Bitcoin’s price plunged by 6% to $72,000, reflecting the spillover effects from the global tech sector’s…

Crypto Firms Propose Concessions to Banks as Stablecoin Disputes Stall Key Crypto Bill
Key Takeaways: Crypto companies are attempting to navigate stablecoin disputes with banks but agreements remain elusive. Industry representatives…

CoolWallet Introduces TRON Energy Rental to Minimize TRX Transaction Costs
Key Takeaways CoolWallet has integrated TRON’s energy rental services, offering users lower transaction fees while maintaining asset security.…

CFTC Officially Withdraws Biden-Era Proposal to Ban Political and Sports Prediction Markets
Key Takeaways: The CFTC has rescinded a 2024 proposal and subsequent 2025 advisory that aimed to prohibit event…

Binance Says Assets Rose Amid Alleged Bank Run Attempt
Key Takeaways: Binance reported an unexpected increase in assets during a community-driven withdrawal campaign, challenging conventional expectations of…

Same Macro Tape, Different Bid – Gold Absorbs Flows as Bitcoin Swings
Key Takeaways: Gold is experiencing significant demand growth, especially via ETFs and central banks, projecting a robust performance…

Crypto Price Prediction Today, February 4 – Focus on XRP, Cardano, and Dogecoin
Key Takeaways Bitcoin is facing significant pressure, affecting the entire cryptocurrency market, including heavyweights like XRP, Cardano, and…

Vitalik Buterin Urges Ethereum Builders to Innovate Beyond Clone Chains
Key Takeaways Vitalik Buterin criticizes the trend of creating copy-paste EVM chains, encouraging developers to focus on truly…

Best Crypto to Buy Now February 4: XRP, Solana, Hyperliquid Picks
Key Takeaways XRP remains one of the top picks for cross-border transactions due to its high speed and…

XRP Price Prediction: Ripple Quietly Unlocks a Billion Tokens – Is a Price Shock Coming in the Next Few Hours?
Key Takeaways Ripple has released one billion XRP tokens into the market, potentially causing a shift in XRP…

Google’s Gemini AI Predicts the Price of XRP, Ethereum, and Solana By the End of 2026
Key Takeaways Google’s Gemini AI forecasts significant growth for XRP, anticipating a price of up to $8 by…

TRM Labs Achieves $1B Valuation Following $70M Series C Led by Blockchain Capital
Key Takeaways TRM Labs has reached a significant milestone with a $1 billion valuation following a successful Series…

Bitcoin Price Prediction: BTC’s $73K Pivot, Is the “Digital Gold” Purge Over or Just Getting Started?
Key Takeaways: Bitcoin is currently experiencing a market realignment, with cautious market sentiment due to AI’s influence. The…

Solana Price Prediction: Did SOL Just Bottom at $100? Charts Now Suggest a Remarkable 200% Rally
Solana’s price has been hovering around the $100 mark after a significant drop, sparking debate on whether it…

Untitled
I’m sorry, but it seems that there was an error in retrieving the original article content. Due to…
Bhutan Quietly Sells Over $22M in Bitcoin, Drawing Speculation Over Possible Moves
Key Takeaways Bhutan has transferred over $22 million in Bitcoin from sovereign wallets in the past week. The…
BitMine Endures a $7B Unrealized Loss as Ethereum Dips Below $2,100
Key Takeaways BitMine is facing a significant financial challenge with an unrealized loss of over $7 billion in…
Trump-Linked World Liberty Financial Under Scrutiny Following $500 Million UAE Stake
Key Takeaways A U.S. House investigation is examining a $500 million UAE stake in Trump-related World Liberty Financial.…
Asia Market Open: Bitcoin Tumbles as Asian Equities Reflect Global Tech Retreat
Key Takeaways: Bitcoin’s price plunged by 6% to $72,000, reflecting the spillover effects from the global tech sector’s…
Crypto Firms Propose Concessions to Banks as Stablecoin Disputes Stall Key Crypto Bill
Key Takeaways: Crypto companies are attempting to navigate stablecoin disputes with banks but agreements remain elusive. Industry representatives…
CoolWallet Introduces TRON Energy Rental to Minimize TRX Transaction Costs
Key Takeaways CoolWallet has integrated TRON’s energy rental services, offering users lower transaction fees while maintaining asset security.…