2025 Archive: Odaily Editorial Team's Selected Articles Collection
- Core Viewpoint: In 2025, crypto market narratives failed, consensus collapsed, and volatility was intense.
- Key Elements:
- Regulatory Shift: U.S. policy changes reshaped the industry environment.
- Market Fragmentation: Institutional capital drove rotations in specific sectors.
- Frequent Risks: Security incidents and DeFi risk exposures intensified.
- Market Impact: The industry entered a phase of stock game and structural adjustment.
- Timeliness Note: Medium-term impact.
2025 was not an easy year to summarize in the crypto world. Narratives repeatedly failed, consensus frequently crumbled, cycles became blurred, and the intense swings of sentiment were amplified to the extreme.
Against this backdrop, writing itself has become more difficult—because compared to "writing fast," it is more important to write accurately, write truthfully, and write something that stands the test of time.
This year, the Odaily platform published a total of 1,770 original articles. Members of the editorial team have selected articles from their own work that either raised crucial questions at the time or captured a slice of the era, pieces that remain valid or offer valuable insights when revisited at the new year.
(Note: Many "hot events" may not be included here. For an annual review of key milestones, please refer to Odaily's previously published"4 Key Themes, Composing the 2025 Crypto Seasons Song".)
The articles vary in perspective and style, and their answers are not uniform, yet together they sketch the true contours of 2025.
We wish all our readers the ability to maintain judgment amidst uncertainty in 2026, to find your own rhythm within the volatility, and to achieve your aspirations!
Now, let's take a look at these representative articles:
January 8
"Confessions of an 88x Diamond Hand: Why I Chose ai16z (and Sold Swarms)"
Asher (X: @Asher_ 0210): Have you already forgotten the AI Agent frenzy at the beginning of the year? This records my most successful early-stage investment, telling the real story of how I discovered ai16z and held firm for nearly a hundredfold gain. Although the hype has long faded, the methodology remains, motivating myself to still believe in the gains from early-stage investments in 2026.
January 18
"Who Are the Million-Dollar TRUMP Profit Makers? The Winning KOLs and the Disappointed ETH Maxis"
Wenser (X: @wenser2010): The wealth creation opportunity with TRUMP at the beginning of the year was an industry-level, phenomenal project. We promptly compiled a list of the traders with impressive track records. Looking back now, most of the smart money remained active in the crypto space and subsequently captured many major opportunities of the year, making them worth long-term attention.
January 28
Golem (X: @web3_golem): The Meme market may have receded now, but the wave of fierce competition in early 2025 is still worth revisiting. It was at that juncture that Odaily interviewed Crypto D, a representative figure in the Meme space. The Meme philosophy he summarized in the article is not a product of emotion but a calm deconstruction of cycles, human nature, and liquidity—it will not become outdated.
February 8
"From New York to Washington, Anti-Crypto Forces in the US Are Facing a Comprehensive Reckoning"
Dc (X: @HanzoDC): Focuses on the fundamental changes in the US regulatory environment following the Trump administration's inauguration—the overall landscape of personnel reshuffles and policy shifts within major US financial regulators (including the SEC, FDIC, CFTC), and how this change is reshaping the regulatory attitude towards the crypto industry. The angle is quite unique; most of the news points discussed were minor stories not heavily covered by mainstream media, but together they form a major trend. Some events were actually very interesting.
February 19
"A Review of the Big Crypto Money-Making Machines"
Wenser (X: @wenser2010): The business models of platforms, organizations, and projects within the circle have always been a focus of mine. So, in the first half of the year, I conducted simple data collection and analysis on the people-to-revenue efficiency of highly profitable protocols and platforms. Looking back now, CEXs and stablecoins remain at the top, while the DAT model is highly dependent on market performance.
February 21
Wenser (X: @wenser2010): The theft of $1.5 billion in assets from Bybit shocked both inside and outside the industry. That night, we conducted in-depth, real-time reporting on the event within 2 hours, also witnessing a textbook case of crisis PR. The industry's ability to digest security risks and crisis events was once again verified. A very iconic security attack incident.
March 8
Dc (X: @HanzoDC): After following the live conference, I was quite shocked by its emptiness and grandstanding; much of it was the kind of very bureaucratic but substance-less expression common in English. I quickly wrote this article. It's not long, but at a time when the prevailing trend was to praise Trump for leading crypto, it attempted to glimpse the other side.
April 19
"From Application Process to Fees: An In-Depth Comparison of Ten Major Crypto Payment Cards"
Dc (X: @HanzoDC): Conducted a systematic evaluation and horizontal comparison of ten representative crypto payment cards on the market. Spent a long time collecting information, conducting interviews, comparing domestic and international user needs and experiences, and their feedback.
July 1
Leo (X: @LeoAndCrypto): Written overnight after the news broke. Robinhood's announcement of stock tokenization was one of the important moments for crypto this year. This is not just a product innovation but marks the formal move of real-world core financial assets towards scalable on-chain circulation. Crypto is beginning to deeply intervene and reshape the operational methods of traditional capital markets.
July 11
Ding Dang (X: @XiaMiPP): Although the crypto industry was overall sluggish, ETH indeed stood out this year, hitting a new high of $4,950. Yi Lihua, as a "famous ETH bull," also garnered attention. This article was published on the eve of ETH's surge. While it didn't contain much new information, it served as a morale booster at the time.
July 17
Ding Dang (X: @XiaMiPP): At that time, DAT was rising, and it was already discernible that altcoins would not repeat past patterns. Instead, it would be a sector rotation led by the structural inflow of institutional funds, shifting attention from traditional small-cap speculation to compliance, real yield, and institutional accessibility. Although the market trend in the following months was bleak, local hotspots confirmed this characteristic.
July 25
"Deep Dive into Jia Yueting's Entry into RWA: Who Is the New Director Behind the Old Actor?"
Ethan (X: @ethanzhang_web3): One of the hottest discussion tracks this year was RWA, and Jia Yueting's cross-border entry into crypto was truly unexpected. Initially, based on the logic of the order assets he owned in reality, it was predicted he would bring pre-orders on-chain. But who would have thought Jia would play it even better, separating cars and crypto, establishing separate operational systems, creating a dual-flywheel, dual-bridge model, and focusing on crypto metrics. Indeed, the most obvious answer you can think of is often not the final one.
July 29
Ding Dang (X: @XiaMiPP): This article tracked the "confidence game" process of Ethena/ENA, from the hundreds of millions in buybacks to stabilize the price, to on-chain data revealing potential selling pressure, to the strategic extension into the stablecoin compliance track and RWA layout.
August 22
"The First Batch of Post-00s Web3 Workers Have Already Started 'Leaving the Circle'"
Golem (X: @web3_golem): Around mid-2025, I personally went through a relatively difficult period. Questions about why to stay in Web3, the meaning of making money, and even the motivation to keep going were repeatedly shaken. It was against this backdrop that I wrote this article. It's not a grand narrative but an attempt to restore the real situation of an ordinary post-00s worker in the Web3 world: about choices, about ups and downs, and about the reasons to stay amidst uncertainty.
August 31
"Where Did Everyone Go at This Year's Bitcoin Asia?"
Golem (X: @web3_golem): It is a travelogue and also a record and reflection on the current state of the Bitcoin ecosystem. What I love is not yet dead.
September 9
"The Most Comprehensive Review of New Prediction Markets in 2025 (Part 1)"
"The Most Comprehensive Review of New Prediction Markets in 2025 (Part 2)"
"Odaily Picks: These Tools Can Double Your Trading Win Rate in Prediction Markets"
Leo (X: @LeoAndCrypto): Three articles combined to form a practical handbook for prediction markets.
September 29
"Post-05 Crypto Fanatic Enheng: 'Binance Prince' Is Just My Camouflage"
Golem (X: @web3_golem): Enheng is a young, smart, and controversial figure. As I said in the article, although not everyone's path to initial capital accumulation is glamorous, a young person who uses limited resources to bet on possibilities, no matter what, deserves to be recorded.
October 16
Ethan (X: @ethanzhang_web3): The article dissects the Chen Zhi case. The staggering amount involved was jaw-dropping. The most discussed topic at the time was the BTC reserve game between China and the US. Later, combined with the quantum attack narrative, it顺势 became one of the triggers for the surge in privacy coins like ZEC.
October 19
"Odaily Office Trading Competition: A Record of Mischief with the Boss's Money"
Dc (X: @HanzoDC): A record of the "Office Trading Competition" held internally at Odaily. The article documents the real trading performance, position choices, and mindset changes of Odaily colleagues under the initial capital of 200 USDT over two weeks, the wins and losses, impulses, and reflections we experienced in the market.
October 30
"If This Continues, Really No One Will Be Trading Crypto Anymore"
Wenser (X: @wenser2010): An article written after the October 11th crash. It only points out problems and expresses sentiment, offering no methods or clear conclusions. It highlights the chronic ills of the current crypto industry, where the market faces the dual困境 of dwindling增量 and存量 competition.
November 1
"17 Years Later, Why Do We Still Need Bitcoin?"
Dc (X: @HanzoDC): A long article summarizing Bitcoin's 17-year trajectory, contemplating from the perspectives of historical cycles, institutional logic, and value philosophy: as the real world continuously expands credit and debt, Bitcoin, due to its immutability and decentralization, remains a key to understanding the present and future.
November 3
"Privacy Coin Revival: From Binance Delisting Candidate to 13x Surge, ZEC's Lightning Rebirth"
Ding Dang (X: @XiaMiPP): When writing this article, the market still viewed ZEC's rise as an emotional rebound. But I wanted to emphasize: against the backdrop of持续 tightening regulation, privacy has not disappeared but has been repriced, and new narrative models have been developed.
November 5
"What Is the Curator Role in DeFi? Could It Be a Hidden Landmine in This Cycle?"
Azuma (X: @azuma_eth): In November, on-chain security incidents entered a high-incidence period. Curators became the trigger for multiple blow-up events at the time. But when searching for Chinese-language materials, I found that基本上 no one had systematically written about the Curator role, which had实质上 become a behemoth in DeFi. So, I published an article梳理 its role, revenue generation logic, and risk paradox, becoming an important reference for understanding the DeFi security incidents and yield strategy changes during that phase.
