The world of cryptocurrencies continues to evolve with breathtaking speed, and both retail investors and institutional players are asking, where is this all headed? At ProCore, we’re fielding more client questions than ever, so let’s break down current trends, adoption figures, the impact of new regulation, and recent security challenges—and what all this means for crypto’s future.
Estimating crypto adoption is notoriously difficult. Best guesses suggest about 1.3% of the global population—1.6 million people—own some Bitcoin. This sounds modest, but context matters: only 21 million Bitcoin will ever exist, and 19.9 million have already been mined. Soberingly, around 20% of that supply—about 4 million coins—may be lost forever.
Looking closer to home, a 2025 study found 28% of Americans (about 65 million) own some form of cryptocurrency, though this is down from 33% in January 2022 before the latest correction. Bitcoin alone remains concentrated: the top 1% of addresses hold over 90% of all Bitcoin.
Demographically, buyers continue to skew young—mostly between ages 18-29, and the median U.S. wallet contains less than $300 in crypto. A mere third of owners first bought before the 2018 run-up; over half joined in during the 2020–2021 frenzy, and less than 10% bought in the past year. Despite crypto’s mainstream visibility (90% of Americans have heard of it), ownership is still highly unequal.
Looking ahead, 14% of non-owners say they plan to buy crypto in 2025, and 67% of current owners want to buy more. For prospective buyers, top targets include Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin.
Interestingly, recent sentiment is tightly linked with politics—60% of crypto-familiar adults expect values to rise during Donald Trump’s current presidential term, and 46% believe his administration will accelerate adoption which seems to be happening. Trump has actively promoted the idea of a U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve—the government currently holds over 205,000 BTC (about 1% of supply, worth $21 billion). Yet, only about 28% of Americans support the concept.
Crypto assets pose significant valuation challenges due to their lack of intrinsic value, speculative nature, and absence of traditional cash flows. Unlike equities or bonds, which derive their value from earnings or interest payments, crypto-assets are often valued based on demand dynamics, technological adoption, and network effects. This approach values crypto-assets based on the square of active users, assuming that more users increase the asset’s utility and value. However, it oversimplifies valuation by ignoring external factors like regulatory risks or technological competition.
● Speculation vs. Fundamental Value: Many cryptoassets rely on speculation
rather than fundamental value. Investors must assess whether a given asset has
genuine utility beyond trading hype.
● Macroeconomic Correlation: Although initially viewed as uncorrelated assets,
major crypto-assets have shown increasing correlation with risk assets like tech
stocks, especially during market downturns.
● Regulatory Uncertainty: Government interventions and shifting regulations
significantly impact valuations, particularly for assets with uncertain legal status.
Some analysts dream of Bitcoin becoming the digital gold standard. Currently, Bitcoin’s market cap is just under $2.1 trillion, dwarfed by gold’s $19.9 trillion. For Bitcoin to catch up over the next decade, it would need an annual return of just 25.2%. By contrast, it returned an eye-popping 29,381% return (76.5% annualized) over the past 10 years, eclipsing even red-hot stocks like NVIDIA that only returned 27,799% (74.9% annualized) over the same period. History and market math suggest future returns will likely moderate.
Bitcoin’s volatility and the broader lack of regulatory clarity have long been cited as roadblocks to mainstream adoption and institutional trust. Some of these barriers have subsided, with the approval of Bitcoin and Ethereum futures ETF, allowing investors to gain exposure without actually holding Bitcoin.Institutional adoption has also benefited from the ability to mitigate some risk through advanced hedging strategies along with institutional custody solutions through Fidelity and Coinbase institutional. However, the average investor does not have access tothese same risk mitigators and continue to have to hold the assets on public wallets that may not be as secure or manage private wallets. While crypto’s original purpose was decentralization, 2025 has marked a notable shift—adoption is increasingly dependent on regulatory frameworks, especially for stablecoins.
Signed into law in July 2025, is a gamechanger for U.S. crypto markets. It creates the
first federal regulations for stablecoins, requiring:
● Stablecoins must be fully backed 1:1 by U.S. dollars or Treasuries.
● Issuers must be permitted, regulated entities (banks, credit unions, or licensed
firms).
● Reserve breakdowns must be published monthly.
● Issuers must have robust operational, compliance, and redemption processes.
● Non-compliant stablecoins are prohibited from U.S. markets.
This means the only digital assets gaining wide adoption are those tightly tied to and regulated by traditional financial institutions and the U.S. Treasury—ironically undercutting the very decentralization that made Bitcoin enticing in the first place. The White House and Congress have also moved to encourage innovation: the U.S.now manages a strategic Bitcoin reserve, and executive orders entrench the right toself-custody and ban a federal digital dollar (CBDC), even as stablecoins become mainstream in payments and corporate finance.
Despite surging regulation and adoption, crypto security breaches are at all-time highs:
● Over $3.1 billion has been lost to hacks in just the first half of 2025, easily surpassing 2024’s total. The North Korea-linked ByBit hack alone netted $1.5 billion—the largest in crypto history.
● Old scams linger, but new threats like AI-powered deepfake video scams and sophisticated phishing attacks are booming; individual wallets are increasingly at risk.
● Social engineering and targeted attacks have led to millions stolen from platforms like WOO X, demonstrating how even professional platforms remain vulnerable.
● Everyday investors aren’t immune: nearly 1 in 5 crypto owners have faced trouble accessing or withdrawing funds, and 40% of owners still lack confidence in crypto’s safety.
● The U.S. alone saw $9.3 billion in consumer losses to crypto fraud in 2024, with 2025 on pace for a new record. Recent months saw high-profile cases—from a Denver pastor arrested for an alleged $3.4 million faith-based token scam, to numerous wallet-draining phishing efforts preying on everyday users.
There is a good chance, but my guess is that the version that survives and grows will look much more like regulated fintech or regulated digital currency than the libertarian dream of Bitcoin’s white paper. Broader institutional and government adoption is now focusing almost exclusively on stablecoins—digital tokens fully backed and audited by U.S. dollar assets through heavily regulated channels. This model directly counteracts the decentralization that made Bitcoin radical, but delivers the transparency, safety, and reliability demanded by both government and Wall Street.
The wild ten-year ride of Bitcoin is unmatched, but as crypto converges with the mainstream, the winners may be those that can adapt—whether that’s through compliance, creative use of blockchain tech, or next-generation digital securities. As always, investor caution and due diligence are more essential than ever in a market both full of promise and fraught with evolving risk.
If you’re exploring adding crypto or stablecoins to your portfolio, or want to discuss digital asset strategy in this rapidly changing environment, reach out to your ProCore advisor today.
