The Data Behind Crypto's Breakout Year

33 snips

Nov 1, 2025

Guest

Daren Matsuoka

Guest

Eddy Lazzarin

Daren Matsuoka, Head of Data and Fund Strategy at a16z Crypto, shares insights from the 2025 State of Crypto report, exploring market shifts, institutional adoption, and the evolving role of stablecoins. Eddy Lazzarin, a16z Crypto's CTO, offers technical perspectives during a Q&A session. They discuss the convergence of crypto and AI, the growing demand for privacy technologies, and the future of tokenization in bridging traditional finance. The conversation highlights the maturation of the crypto space and strategies for developers in the upcoming bull market.

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INSIGHT

Estimating Active On-Chain Users

Monthly on-chain active users are roughly 40–70 million, a 10 million increase year-over-year.
This remains a small share of holders but indicates steady organic growth in usage.

INSIGHT

Physical Infrastructure Goes Decentralized

Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (D-PIN) are emerging as alternatives to natural monopolies in telecom and energy.
Helium's 100k+ hotspots illustrate how user-owned infrastructure can scale to millions of users.

INSIGHT

Blockchains Achieve High Throughput

Blockchain throughput grew over 100x in five years, matching major financial systems' TPS.
Layer-2s dropped Ethereum fees from $24 to under one cent while increasing throughput tenfold.

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with @DarenMatsuoka @eddylazzarin

Today, we’re bringing you something special: a presentation from our 2025 Founders Summit, which we just wrapped last week in beautiful Carlsbad, Calif. You’ll hear from Daren Matsuoka, our Head of Data and Fund Strategy, as he walks through the insights from this year’s State of Crypto report — our deep-dive into the data, themes, and signals shaping the industry right now.

Stay through to the end for audience Q&A featuring our founders and to hear a16z crypto CTO Eddy Lazzarin share his takes on this year’s findings. To watch the full video — and explore more deep dives, explainers, and interviews — visit the a16z crypto Youtube channel. Don’t forget to like and subscribe to stay updated.

Oh, and if you haven’t already, be sure to check out the full State of Crypto report at a16zcrypto.com/stateofcrypto, and also to listen to the episode just before this one — a conversation between Daren, Eddy, and me where we unpack the numbers and trends, explain what they mean, and why they matter.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction

01:56 Crypto Market Developments in 2025

07:19 Institutional Adoption and Market Trends

09:05 Stablecoins: The First Killer Use Case

12:08 The Evolution of Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

13:18 DePIN and Physical Infrastructure Networks

15:12 Blockchain Scaling and Infrastructure

17:24 Privacy, ZK Technology, and Quantum Computing

18:53 Crypto and AI: Converging Technologies

21:08 Regulatory Clarity and Legislative Progress

23:27 Looking Ahead

24:04 Q&A Session

📊 Download the full State of Crypto 2025 report and explore our interactive dashboard to track the industry’s key metrics.

📩 Subscribe for more industry reports, trend updates, news analysis, builder guides, and other resources.from a16z crypto: https://a16zcrypto.substack.com/subscribe/

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As always, none of the following should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

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