On The Brink with Castle Island 2025 Highlights and 2026 Predictions with Blockchain Coinvestors (EP.693)
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Dec 30, 2025 Matthew Le Merle and Mitch Mechigian from Blockchain Coinvestors dive into the future of the blockchain industry. They discuss the transformative year of 2025, marked by massive wallet adoption and regulatory shifts in the U.S. Demand for dollar savings in developing markets drives growth, while institutional acceptance of blockchain accelerates. They predict 2–3 billion new digital wallets and the convergence of fintech with stablecoins will shape the landscape, even as they caution about potential market risks and IPO challenges ahead.
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Blockchain Reached An Inflection Point
- 2025 was a breakout year where blockchain adoption scaled beyond early pioneers to mainstream users.
- Hundreds of millions began using wallets, stablecoins, and low-cost on-chain services, signaling an inflection point.
Regulatory Thaw Transformed The US Market
- US regulatory stance shifted materially in 2025, moving from enforcement-heavy to more permissive and structured.
- Key events included the Bitcoin Reserve executive order, new SEC leadership, dropped lawsuits, and the Gensyn Act stablecoin law.
* incumbents Embraced Crypto Infrastructure*
- Traditional finance stopped dismissing crypto and started building and investing in blockchain infrastructure.
- Banks, payment firms, and asset managers began adding custody, stablecoin rails, and tokenization experiments.