Venture capital leaders are reassessing where value accrued across the crypto industry in 2025 after a year shaped by regulatory shifts and uneven market performance.
In a recent podcast discussion, Pantera Capital partner Mason Nystrom, Hash3 co-founder Hootie Rashidifard and Variant partner Alana Levin outlined which sectors and players emerged as winners and losers.
The investors said regulatory clarity in major jurisdictions reshaped capital flows and encouraged more traditional financial firms to expand their crypto exposure.
Nystrom identified incumbents as key beneficiaries, arguing that established companies were well positioned to act once policy uncertainty began to ease.
He highlighted Robinhood as a standout example, noting that the firm had previously taken a cautious approach to digital assets before accelerating its crypto strategy in 2025.
They have done an excellent job getting ahead of where the puck is skating.
Mason Nystrom said, referring to how incumbents anticipated regulatory developments.
Stablecoin issuers were also named among the strongest performers of the year due to rising transaction volumes and growing profitability.
Rashidifard said the sector had undergone a sharp reappraisal, with projects once viewed as unfashionable now attracting strong investor interest.
Tether is the most profitable company on the planet per employee.
Hootie Rashidifard said, pointing to the efficiency and scale achieved by major stablecoin operators.
He added that stablecoins are increasingly valued for providing practical services to end users rather than simply generating revenue.
Levin highlighted prediction markets as one of the fastest-growing crypto categories in 2025, citing renewed confidence in their business models.
She said platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket had moved beyond earlier concerns around wash trading and election-only activity.
To see the Intercontinental Exchange invest $2 billion into Polymarket this year is mind-blowing.
Alana Levin said, underscoring the scale of institutional interest.
The venture capitalists also pointed to notable losers, including individuals whose actions damaged trust in the industry.
Levin singled out Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon following his 15-year prison sentence linked to the collapse of the Terra ecosystem in 2022.
The collapse erased an estimated $40 billion in market value and continues to shape investor attitudes toward risk and accountability.
Rashidifard described the Biden-era US Securities and Exchange Commission as an institutional loser, criticising years of aggressive enforcement.
He said the approach was “hostile for politicised reasons that made no sense,” Hootie Rashidifard said, arguing it pushed founders overseas.
The executives noted that the passage of the GENIUS Act in July signalled a shift in the United States towards clearer federal rules for stablecoin issuance and oversight.
They added that delayed progress on a broader crypto market structure bill has left some uncertainty, with key Senate hearings now postponed until 2026.