Analyst: 2025 will be a watershed year for cryptocurrency policy, and clearer regulations will drive institutional adoption

According to a report by Crowdfund Insider, Ari Redbord and Angela Ang from the TRM Labs policy team, along with TRM's EMEA compliance advisor Luke Dufour, reviewed the most important issues in global crypto policy for the fourth quarter of 2025 and examined the developments in crypto policy across 30 jurisdictions, revealing several key trends:

Stablecoins dominated the policy agenda, with over 70% of jurisdictions advancing stablecoin regulation in 2025.

Clearer regulations created a tailwind for institutional adoption, with about 80% of jurisdictions' financial institutions announcing new digital asset initiatives.

The impact of regulation on illicit financing remains clear. TRM's analysis found that virtual asset service providers (VASPs), as the most regulated part of the crypto ecosystem, have a significantly lower rate of illicit activity compared to the overall ecosystem.

TRM Labs noted that 2025 is "a watershed year for U.S. crypto policy," while the fourth quarter reinforced the momentum of crypto policy as "no longer just bills moving through Congress." Instead, regulators are increasingly "leveraging guidance, oversight, and enforcement to achieve policy objectives."