The following is a guest post by Forest Bai, co-founder of Foresight Ventures.
Looking ahead to 2025, the convergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology is transforming industries and opening up new opportunities. At Foresight Ventures, we believe this is a watershed moment. This is a moment where decentralized AI, payments finance (PayFi), and the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA) are emerging as fundamental pillars of the next wave of innovation.
These developments are not gradual. They are paradigm shifts. These will redefine how technology is integrated with global markets, economies, and human systems. Foresight Ventures' investment philosophy goes beyond short-term trends. We aim to drive structural change by identifying opportunities with untapped potential, fostering systems with long-term defensible barriers to entry, and scaling technologies that deliver real value. That's what I'm aiming for.
Here, we outline six key sectors that we are bullish on heading into 2025 and explore why they are poised to redefine the future of decentralized technology.
1. AI + Cryptography: Revolutionizing Intelligent Systems
The convergence of AI and blockchain offers transformative potential. AI will revolutionize production processes and cryptocurrencies will redefine production relationships. Together, these enable a decentralized AI ecosystem where agents (independent systems powered by machine learning) can interact autonomously on the blockchain.
One of the breakthrough developments is agent-to-agent payments, where AI systems use virtual currencies to seamlessly settle value. These interactions are the foundation of a new economy powered by distributed computing and data networks.
Consider the concept of an on-device AI agent, a personal assistant that protects privacy while enabling secure token-based incentives. Decentralized networks are already reducing AI computational costs by up to 80%, making them a scalable and cost-effective alternative to traditional providers. With global AI-related energy consumption expected to increase by 400% over the next five years, these systems provide a sustainable and efficient solution.
2. PayFi: Unlocking financial inclusion through high-yield stablecoins
Payments remain one of the most practical and frequent blockchain use cases. The advent of interest-bearing stablecoins adds an attractive new dimension. These tokens combine price stability with yield generation, making them attractive to both consumers and businesses.
Global payments revenue is projected to reach: $3.3 trillion by 2031However, traditional systems are hampered by high fees, slow settlement times, and inefficiencies. PayFi solutions address these challenges, reducing cross-border fees by up to 90% and reducing payment times to just seconds.
For billions of unbanked individuals around the world, PayFi is an opportunity to access faster, cheaper, and more comprehensive financial tools. In particular, high-yield stablecoins are the cornerstone of the PayFi revolution, unlocking value for users by offering both utility and financial returns.
3. DeFi × TradFi: Bridging institutions
The integration of decentralized finance (DeFi) and traditional finance (TradFi) is no longer speculative, but is becoming essential. As financial institutions increasingly adopt blockchain for transactions, custody, and risk management, the need for compliant and user-friendly platforms has never been greater.
Projects like Agora, August, and Aptos are leading the way by allowing institutions to trade, clear, and even lend directly on public blockchains. These platforms not only tokenize real-world assets, but also open new possibilities for institutional engagement in decentralized ecosystems.
The DeFi x TradFi integration creates a seamless path for financial institutions to leverage blockchain technology by addressing barriers to institutional participation, such as regulatory compliance and operational complexity.
4. Tokenized real-world assets: Unlocking trillions in value
Tokenizing traditionally illiquid assets such as real estate, bonds, and commodities will unlock trillions of dollars in value. By 2030, RWA tokenization is expected to reach 10% of global GDP, or approximately 10%. 10 trillion dollars.
Smart contracts automate transactions and reduce settlement times from weeks to minutes. Fractional ownership and increased liquidity are democratizing access to assets once limited to institutional investors.
These advances are not just technological, they are transformational. By bridging traditional finance and blockchain, tokenized RWA is creating a more inclusive and efficient financial system. This consolidation is more than just a trend. It is a fundamental change in the way value is created and exchanged on a global scale.
5. Moving high-traffic traditional apps on-chain
One of the most promising opportunities is bringing high-traffic traditional applications to blockchain. Many of these applications have established user bases and proven business models, but lack a dominant industry leader.
Blockchain allows these companies to optimize their commercial loops, introduce innovative revenue-sharing models, and scale globally. Projects like Story Protocol, Sleepless.ai, and TON are pioneers in this transition, bridging Web2 users to the Web3 ecosystem.
These applications demonstrate how blockchain can unlock new growth opportunities by enhancing user engagement and creating a decentralized value ecosystem. Moving traditional apps to blockchain is more than just a technological evolution; it's rethinking the way businesses operate in the digital age.
6. Web3 ID: The key to decentralization
As Web3 grows, the need for a secure, private, permissionless identity layer becomes paramount. Without this, decentralized applications cannot fully integrate on-chain and off-chain scenarios.
Projects like SpaceID, Sign, and Mocaverse are building universal identity systems that allow users to access multi-chain services with a single private key or ID. These solutions ensure reliability, interoperability, and privacy, which are key pillars for mass deployment.
The Web3 ID system lays the foundation for a decentralized internet that puts users in control of their data and interactions by enabling a seamless user experience across platforms.
Industrial transformation through structural innovation
The six sectors outlined above are more than just investment opportunities, they represent building blocks of a larger transformation. At Foresight Ventures, we prioritize long-term value creation by investing in systems that are scalable, defensible, and structurally transformable.
Projects that lack significant market potential, scalability, or economic moat are not part of our theory. Instead, we focus on innovations that address real-world inefficiencies and build self-reinforcing ecosystems.
For example, decentralized AI systems offer transparency and neutrality, and compliance ensures scalability within regulatory frameworks. Ecosystem loops where networks enhance adoption and utility drive sustainable growth and create lasting value.
Looking to the future: A new era of innovation
As we enter 2025, the convergence of AI, PayFi, and tokenization marks the beginning of a new era. Decentralized AI makes systems smarter and more secure. PayFi is reshaping global payments and providing financial tools to billions of underserved users. Tokenized RWA connects blockchain with traditional finance, unlocking trillions of dollars in value.
At Foresight Ventures, we're not just investors, we're builders. We support the creators, innovators, and visionaries who are laying the foundations of this new economy. We aim to shape the future of decentralized technology by anticipating structural change and investing in systems that create lasting value.
The opportunities ahead are immense, but they require focus, clarity, and discipline. It's easy to get excited about innovation, but the real challenge lies in building something that lasts. Now is the time to build for 2025.
