From stablecoins to incumbents, VCs map crypto value in 2025

Venture partners such as Pantera, Hash3 and Variant look back on a year of regulatory shifts and uneven markets, outlining crypto’s biggest winners and losers in 2025.

After a year of regulatory change and uneven market performance, crypto investors are reassessing where value accrued in 2025. 

In a recent podcast, Pantera Capital partner Mason Nystrom, Hash3 co-founder Hootie Rashidifard and Variant partner Alana Levin identified incumbents, such as Robinhood, alongside stablecoin companies and prediction markets as this year’s top performers.

According to Nystrom, incumbents benefited from acting once the regulatory environment became clearer. He pointed to Robinhood, which he said had taken a cautious stance toward crypto in recent years before moving more aggressively in 2025, adding that incumbents “have done an excellent job getting ahead of where the puck is skating” as clarity emerged.

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