Artificial Intelligence and Tokenization to Usher in New Long-Tail Capital Markets by 2025 According to Bitwise Experts

As we step into a new year, Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley has made some predictions about the potential trends that will shape the crypto space in 2025. In a series of posts on X, Horsley highlighted the possibility of a boom in smaller, niche businesses aided by AI and tokenization, as well as an increase in corporate Bitcoin adoption and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity.

Tokenization: A Game-Changer for Small Businesses

In one of his X posts, Horsley emphasized the transformative power of tokenization, which has been primarily focused on demand-side benefits such as democratizing access to money market funds. However, Horsley argued that the real revolutionary potential lies on the supply side.

Tokenization’s ability to enable a vast untapped supply of smaller businesses to access capital markets could be its most significant contribution. This is particularly relevant in the context of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, an industry that Brickken founder and CEO Edwin Mata predicts will be a key narrative in 2025.

Real-World Asset Tokenization: A New Era for Traditional Markets

‘Real-world asset tokenization is transforming traditional markets by enabling assets like real estate, debt, and equity to be digitized and traded on the blockchain,’ said Mata. This technology has the potential to disrupt traditional markets and create new opportunities for investors.

AI-Driven Explosion of Micro Companies

Horsley also predicted that AI will lead to an explosion of companies and tokenized companies in 2025. ‘AI could massively increase the number of niche businesses. These could never go public but could tokenize. It could be a major new long-tail capital market,’ he said.

This is an exciting development, as it has the potential to create new opportunities for small businesses to access capital markets and grow their operations.

Example: AI-Boosted Tokenization

As Horsley explained in his post:

AI can boost tokenization by increasing the number of niche businesses that could never go public but could tokenize. This could be a major new long-tail capital market.

The Rise of Bitcoin Standard Corporations

Horsley also predicted that 2025 will see the arrival of ‘Bitcoin Standard Corporations,’ companies that hold BTC on their balance sheets.

MicroStrategy’s Lead

MicroStrategy, which has hinted at another purchase in the near future, is already the largest corporate holder of BTC, with over 446,400 coins worth around $43.7 billion at current market prices.

Unfreezing M&A Activity

Horsley also predicted that the forthcoming Trump administration in the US may ‘unfreeze’ mergers and acquisitions for large corporations, which is good news for crypto.

The Impact of Large Corporations on Crypto

As Horsley explained:

If large corporations such as the magnificent 7 — Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla — are able to wield their market cap, it could accelerate crypto growth.