Delphi Digital Researcher's 10 Predictions for 2025: Stablecoins Will See Broad-Based Boom, AI Agent Tokens Continue Value Growth
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Delphi Digital Researcher's 10 Predictions for 2025: Stablecoins Will See Broad-Based Boom, AI Agent Tokens Continue Value Growth
As the most direct manifestation of attention value theory, the value of AI agent tokens will continue to grow.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Robbie Petersen
Translation: TechFlow
Prediction #1: Frontends Will Dominate Value Capture
As the MEV supply chain matures, participants with exclusive access to order flow will capture increasing value.
The reason is simple. Downstream players—such as DEXs, searchers, builders, and validators—will face intensified competition. In contrast, originators of order flow (i.e., frontends) hold a natural monopolistic advantage within the MEV supply chain.
This means that the only role capable of increasing yields without significantly losing market share is the frontend, especially those handling "fee-insensitive" order flow (e.g., digital wallets).
Moreover, emerging technologies such as conditional liquidity (e.g., @DFlowProtocol) will further accelerate this trend.
Prediction #2: DePIN Market Cap Will Grow 5x in 2025
Market leaders in decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN), such as @Helium and @Hivemapper, will approach critical network effects. Meanwhile, @dawninternet will emerge as the most breakthrough DePIN application of the year, powered by significant technological improvements and crypto-economic incentives.
Prediction #3: Limited Use of Crypto Payment Rails in Agent Transactions
In the early stages, transactions between humans and agents will still rely on traditional payment rails. Stripe and PayPal will dominate initial agent payment infrastructure through "For Benefit Of" (FBO) account structures.
However, only when agents achieve sufficient autonomy will the high-cost models of traditional payment rails reveal their limitations. The rise of microtransactions and usage-based pricing will make traditional payment fees (~3%) unsustainable.
That said, this shift won’t occur in 2025, as most transactions will still be between humans and agents. (See tweet)
Prediction #4: Stablecoins Will Cross the Fintech Application Chasm
Stablecoins will evolve from being a “lubricant” in DeFi (decentralized finance) to becoming genuine mediums of exchange.
This transition is driven by two key reasons fintech companies are adopting stablecoins: (1) improved profitability, and (2) strategic control over more of the payment stack.
As widespread stablecoin adoption becomes essential for fintech survival, monthly active stablecoin addresses are expected to surpass 50 million.
Prediction #5: Visa Launches a Stablecoin Initiative, Proactively Adjusting Profit Structure
To preempt disruptive shifts in the payment stack, Visa will launch its own stablecoin initiative. While this may erode profits from its card network, it's a more manageable risk than facing full market disruption. This logic similarly applies to other fintech firms and banks.
Prediction #6: “Yield-Sharing” Stablecoins Will Grow Market Share 10x
“Yield-sharing” stablecoins (such as USDG @Paxos, “M” @m0foundation, and AUSD @withAUSD) transform the stablecoin economic model by redistributing revenue—traditionally captured by issuers—to applications that provide liquidity to the network.
Although Tether will maintain its market dominance in 2025, yield-sharing stablecoins represent the future due to two key factors:
(1) Distribution Channel Alignment: Unlike earlier yield-bearing stablecoins that targeted end users directly, yield-sharing stablecoins focus on applications with distribution power. This is the first model to fully align incentives between distributors and issuers.
(2) Network Effects at Scale: By incentivizing multiple applications to integrate simultaneously, yield-sharing stablecoins harness the compounding network effects across the entire distribution ecosystem.
In 2025, partnerships between distributors (especially fintech companies) and market makers will significantly increase the market share of these stablecoins, as they generate more direct value for distributors.
Prediction #7: The Line Between Wallets and Apps Will Blur
Wallets will increasingly integrate app-like features such as deposit yield (e.g., @fusewallet), credit accounts (e.g., @GearboxProtocol), native trading capabilities, and chatbot-style interfaces where users express needs and AI agents plus backend solvers execute actions.
At the same time, apps will attempt to hide wallets entirely to maintain direct relationships with end users. For example, @JupiterExchange's mobile app is an early case in point.
The strongest push toward a wallet-centric vision comes from exchanges like @coinbase, which view wallet products as the primary monetization path for on-chain users. (See tweet)
Prediction #8: Chain Abstraction Moves from Theory to Practice at the Wallet Layer
While chain abstraction has previously been discussed mainly at the chain and application layers, the optimal solution lies in meeting user needs directly. Emerging technologies such as @OneBalance_io's resource locks, @NEARProtocol's chain signatures, and @Safe's SafeNet are enabling a new paradigm: chain abstraction implemented at the wallet layer.
Prediction #9: General-Purpose L2s Will Gradually Lose Relevance
The consolidation of blockchain activity can be distilled into one question:
As an application, why should I run on your chain?
For a few well-positioned general-purpose chains (like Solana and Base) and vertically integrated chains (like HypeEVM and Unichain), the answer is clear.
But for the long tail of general-purpose L2s, the value proposition remains unclear. By 2025, blockchain activity will increasingly concentrate on the few chains that offer applications clear, tangible benefits.
Prediction #10: The Boundary Between Attention and Value Will Fade
As the most direct manifestation of attention-value theory, AI agent tokens will continue to grow in value.
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