What’s Ripple’s Outlook for the Digital Asset Market in 2025?… ‘Positive with Major Companies’ Market Entry and RWA’

Ripple, the blockchain and digital asset infrastructure leading company that issues XRP, forecasts accelerated development in the digital asset (cryptocurrency) industry this year.

On the 17th, Ripple’s executive team, including SVP Marcus Treacher, shared their outlook for the digital asset market in 2025, stating that ‘2025 will be a year of maturity and accelerated development for the digital asset market.’

First, SVP Treacher predicted that institutional blockchain adoption would increase due to market demand for improved operational efficiency and connectivity. He stated, ‘The introduction of new institutional-grade blockchain infrastructure and compliance tools will now enable major companies to confidently adopt blockchain to achieve benefits in efficiency and connectivity, expand access to tokenized assets through fractionalization, and create new revenue streams.’

He added, ‘With improved visibility and seamless integration of blockchain technology, institutions can optimize capital deployment without time zone restrictions and manage liquidity demands more precisely.’

Expectations for broader tokenization scope also emerged. Ripple President Monica Long said, ‘Tokenization and Decentralized Finance (DeFi) will evolve beyond crypto-specific services to focus on Real World Asset (RWA) tokenization and institutional tools centered on real use cases by global financial institutions.’

Specifically, President Long explained, ‘While DeFi was primarily for cryptocurrency holders and traders looking to maximize yields on digital assets, it is now shifting towards applying DeFi to traditional and real-world financial use cases.’ She continued, ‘For example, we can imagine foreign exchange markets with instant and cost-effective transactions, transparently tradeable tokenized commodities, bonds with 24/7 trading and automatic settlement, and real-time tradeable ETFs and mutual funds.’ She further predicted that ‘Among the 15 major global banks that have piloted tokenized asset products, 10 banks including Deutsche Bank, HSBC, UBS, Standard Chartered, and State Street will collaborate with crypto-based infrastructure providers to launch market-ready products by 2025.’

From a technical perspective, acceleration in Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) adoption was forecasted. Ripple CTO David Schwartz predicted that ‘The era of institutional adoption will begin through Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP) solving privacy, scalability, and interoperability issues.’ He stated, ‘Along with smart contract development, institutions can design sophisticated financial products tailored to operational and regulatory requirements, from automated syndicated loans to customized derivatives using zero-knowledge proofs.’

He further explained, ‘ZKP will maximize DeFi’s potential and encourage institutions to embrace innovative technology as it meets regulatory compliance while maintaining confidentiality, which is crucial for large-scale adoption.’