State of Crypto: Year in review

Policy Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email State of Crypto: Year in review How did 2025 shake out for crypto? By Nikhilesh De Dec 27, 2025, 3:00 p.m. U.S. Congress (Jesse Hamilton/Modified by CoinDesk) A lot happened in policy tied to crypto this year. Congress passed — and the president signed — the first major piece of crypto legislation in U.S. history this year. Federal regulators have dramatically scaled back their enforcement actions against crypto companies while announcing more rulemaking efforts aimed at bolstering the industry. Companies themselves have felt more emboldened to launch new products and services in the U.S. STORY CONTINUES BELOW Don't miss another story. Subscribe to the State of Crypto Newsletter today . See all newsletters Sign me up By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . You’re reading State of Crypto, a CoinDesk newsletter looking at the intersection of cryptocurrency and government. Click here to sign up for future editions. Looking back at 2025 The narrative Last year, CoinDesk's policy team explained what we'd be looking for in 2025. Here's how we did. Why it matters This is the final edition of this newsletter for 2025. A lot happened, and clearly we'll all be busy well into 2026. Breaking it down On Dec. 31, 2024 , I wrote that, "it seems pretty likely the agency may shift how it approaches future lawsuits against crypto industry participants. Less clear is how the agency might handle its ongoing cases against companies like Coinbase, Binance, Binance.US, Kraken and others. No attorney seems to think the SEC will outright dismiss these cases." The SEC has dismissed the vast majority of the cases it pursued last year. Other court cases largely played out as expected; Sam Bankman-Fried's appeal is ongoing, Roman Storm's case ended in a partial conviction with post-trial motions still ongoing, Do Kwon pleaded guilty to some charges and there are still a small number of active cases we're tracking. Jesse Hamilton noted that while Congress would work on legislation, "Bottom line: Post-election excitement often settles into a why-is-this-taking-so-long vibe." While the GENIUS Act addressing stablecoins became law — confirming Cheyenne Ligon's analysis as well — the continuing negotiations over the more important market structure bill bears Jesse's analysis out. The regulatory world has gotten vastly more complex as far as digital assets go, in the sense that an increasing number of nations are advancing their approaches toward digital assets. That ranges from rulemakings in the U.S. to new licenses being issued in the Middle East to Russia's evolving approach toward digital assets. This week This week Happy new year everybody! If you’ve got thoughts or questions on what I should discuss next week or any other feedback you’d like to share, feel free to email me at [email protected] or find me on Bluesky @nikhileshde.bsky.social . You can also join the group conversation on Telegram . See ya’ll next week! Newsletters State of Crypto More For You State of the Blockchain 2025 By CoinDesk Research Dec 19, 2025 Commissioned by Input Output Group L1 tokens broadly underperformed in 2025 despite a backdrop of regulatory and institutional wins. Explore the key trends defining ten major blockchains below. What to know : 2025 was defined by a stark divergence: structural progress collided with stagnant price action. Institutional milestones were reached and TVL increased across most major ecosystems, yet the majority of large-cap Layer-1 tokens finished the year with negative or flat returns. This report analyzes the structural decoupling between network usage and token performance. We examine 10 major blockchain ecosystems, exploring protocol versus application revenues, key ecosystem narratives, mechanics driving institutional adoption, and the trends to watch as we head into 2026. View Full Report More For You Hong Kong regulators target 2026 legislation for virtual asset dealer and custodian rules By Sheldon Reback , AI Boost Dec 25, 2025 The FSTB and SFC concluded consultations on virtual regimes and plan to introduce new bill to LegCo next year. What to know : Hong Kong plans to introduce legislative proposals to regulate virtual asset dealers and custodians in 2026. The proposals aim to create a licensing framework under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance. The SFC is consulting on extending oversight to virtual asset advisers and managers, with comments due by Jan. 23. 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