Crypto Investment Trends 2025: Decentralisation, Regulatory Shifts, and Opportunities in DeFi

The world of cryptocurrency continues its rapid evolution, shaping the contours of modern finance. At the Emergence 2025 Investment Conference, Pratik Kala, Portfolio Manager & Head of Research at Apollo Crypto, shared his insights into how crypto stands apart from traditional finance and identified emerging trends and opportunities within the crypto landscape. Explore how decentralisation, regulatory changes, and sectors like Decentralised Finance (DeFi) forge new paths for investors in the digital age.

Cryptocurrency challenges conventional finance with its decentralised nature, offering a distinct approach to investing. Pratik Kala emphasised, “Traditional finance and crypto are completely different asset classes.” In stark contrast to conventional finance’s reliance on cash flows, PE ratios, or DCF models, crypto values are driven by network activities, akin to measuring GDP or population growth in an economy.

This paradigm shift demands a unique analytical lens. Crypto’s framework involves examining the economics behind each network’s currency, mirroring countries having their own distinct currencies: “It’s decentralised. It uses its own currency… Think of it like Australia having its own currency.” Investors must forego applying traditional models and instead focus on the “heartbeat” of these digital economies, assessing which networks are thriving and which are in decline.

The broader implications of this shift highlight the potential for cryptocurrencies to redefine value assessment, stability, and strategic investment methodologies. As decentralised finance grows, evolving investment strategies to incorporate unique crypto characteristics promotes diversification and innovation.

Changing political and regulatory landscapes significantly influence the trajectory of crypto investment strategies. In 2023, with a historically hostile regulatory environment, defensive investment approaches were prudent. However, as Pratik noted, the advent of a “pro-crypto White House and Senate” under the Trump administration marks a pivotal shift, enabling more aggressive investment strategies: “Now we can take on a little bit more risk because we think that the returns are going to be up and to the right.”

Regulation plays a formative role in determining the areas within crypto that attract investment, especially when governments influence the benefits accessible to various sectors. The positive stance towards crypto AI and a supportive ecosystem overseen by figures like David Sachs opens avenues for evolution and growth.

This scenario underscores the critical role of government policy and regulation in fostering crypto ecosystem advancements, establishing a fertile ground for ventures in AI and DeFi—sectors with high growth potential and substantial transformative impact.

The fusion of DeFi and blockchain protocols presents promising investment opportunities. Pratik Kala stressed the vast potential of DeFi to address inefficiencies ingrained in traditional banking: “The amount of friction and waste that happens… because of incumbent IT ecosystems… cause a lot of friction. I think DeFi just makes everything so much more simpler.”

Beyond optimising efficiency, DeFi’s ability to facilitate real-time transfers and settlements positions it as a frontrunner for innovation. Supplementing this, the rise of stablecoins and securitisation of real-world assets on chain underscores a foundational shift towards frictionless global financial transactions.