With the constant roller coaster activity that the blockchain space sees all the time, it may be jarring to realize that it’s actually a relatively new industry that arose less than 20 years ago. Despite its short history, the crypto sector has already seen a myriad of “main characters” who rose to become important thought-leaders and community spokespeople. Unfortunately some of these main characters fell from grace just as severely as they rose, including fraudsters like Do Kwon and Sam Bankman-Fried who set the entire industry back significantly when their scam projects collapsed. So while it’s not always a good thing to be the main character, examining who currently represents the most prominent voices in crypto can give us a good idea of which narratives are dominating and how the industry may shift in 2025.
Donald Trump
In the early months of 2025, most eyeballs in the crypto community will undoubtedly be on Donald Trump as he retakes the helm as U.S. President. Unlike his previous term from 2016-2020, this time Trump ran his campaign with the most pro-crypto stance ever exhibited by a presidential candidate. His vice president JD Vance also has a history within the venture capital tech sector and supported utility tokens. Even before taking office, Trump performed multiple bullish actions such as imploring the resignation of previous SEC chair Gary Gensler and installing businessman Paul Atkins to the position. Rumors even circulated that the new administration would consider establishing a Bitcoin strategic reserve on behalf of the U.S. government, which would firmly legitimize cryptocurrencies as an investment vehicle. With the crypto community holding immense anticipation for the first openly pro-crypto U.S. administration, the actual policies and deregulation that Trump puts in place during the first few months of his term will set the tone for the markets throughout 2025.
Michael Saylor
Bitcoin maximalist and billionaire Michael Saylor continues to be a bullish beacon for BTC, and that’s not stopping in 2025. In late October 2024, Saylor’s firm MicroStrategy unveiled its ambitious "21/21" initiative that aims to raise $42 billion by 2027 through equity and fixed-income securities to fund its Bitcoin investments. As of December 23, 2024 the company effectively reached that goal, holding a staggering 444,262 BTC valued at nearly $42.5 billion. However, despite being in the green with its BTC investments overall, Microstrategy stock slid by around 40% in December 2024 while Bitcoin price swayed up and down. As the entity accumulates more BTC, there are also fears that a severe drop in BTC price or company stock price might trigger liquidation and collapse the market for a long time to come.
Murad
Solana memecoins were the primary market narrative for the majority of 2024, and the most significant thought leader for meme coins was KOL Murad Mahmudov. As an evangelist for “cult” memecoins, Murad argues that the top meme coins often offer more utility than most altcoins. They bring joy, combat loneliness, and foster identity recognition—achieving many of the goals initially envisioned for DAOs. Meme coins create resonance, emotional connections, and a sense of purpose, while delivering entertainment and happiness.
Murad has called for a 2025 meme coin super cycle, as his philosophy denotes that a bear market values token utility but in a bull market purity gets prioritized while utility becomes a constraint. He believes that this year meme coins are poised to become a major catalyst for cryptocurrency adoption. Meme coins appeal to new retail investors with their simplicity—no need for white papers, complex technology, or intricate staking concepts. Their universal relatability makes meme coins an ideal gateway to draw users into the crypto world and encourage deeper involvement over time.
AI-driven Character
The most influential main character within crypto in 2025 might not be a real character at all. If the current explosive interest in AI is anything to go by, artificial intelligence could replace real humans to fulfill the role of crypto thought leader. As AI agents continue to rise in prominence and the surrounding technology sees wider development, they have captured significant mindshare over the markets.
Right now the leading AI agent AIXBT already holds great sway over many crypto enthusiasts. The AIXBT twitter account gives financial advice and market insights with the tone of a 20-something crypto bro. Its premise is straightforward: a fully automated influencer providing market perspectives and interacting with users. Since its launch, AIXBT has gained traction and attracted attention for its engaging, personality-driven approach. The project also features the market intelligence platform Aixbt Terminal, a Bloomberg-like tool for analyzing crypto narratives that costs over 600,000 $AIXBT tokens to access.
Aixbt’s launch capitalized on the crypto industry’s growing interest in AI, particularly on social media platforms. The nature of the blockchain industry revolves around financialization, so AI trading agents have naturally risen to prominence through delivering trading insights with authority. AIXBT is only the beginning, as many other AI agents are specialized in certain areas of investing such as technical analysis. While AIXBT itself might not be the actual main character when 2025 ends, it has opened the door for AI influencers to take over.
