As anyone involved in the blockchain space knows very well, 2024 has been a heck of a ride. Now, as 2025 dawns and the blockchain landscape continues to evolve at a breakneck pace, it’s time to take stock and draw up plans for the year to come. 

Here at Stakin, we’ve been hard at work all year helping institutions and retail investors alike maximize their staking returns. As we put 2024 in the rearview mirror and gaze toward the year ahead, we’ve drawn upon our experiences as a blockchain network infrastructure provider and compiled our top 10 blockchain networks to watch in 2025.

The featured networks have demonstrated exceptional growth, innovation, and potential throughout 2024. They’ve not only pushed the technological boundaries of what’s possible in the blockchain space, but have also made great strides in fostering the thriving ecosystems that are shaping the future of decentralized technology.

Here are 10 blockchain networks/ecosystems we’re expecting big things from in 2025…

1. Ethereum

Ethereum maintained its position as the biggest and most influential blockchain ecosystem in the game in 2024. Its successful implementation of proto-danksharding through EIP-4844 significantly reduced layer-2 transaction costs. Continued progress toward full sharding and the growth of its massive layer-2 ecosystem cemented Ethereum's role as the primary settlement layer for web3. The Ethereum network also saw substantial improvements in its staking ecosystem, reaching over 1 million validators securing its network for the first time ever.

Key Developments to watch for in 2025:

• Rollout of "Proto-Danksharding" improvements, increasing blob space and enhancing L2 scalability
• Upcoming “Pectra Upgrade” - one of Ethereum’s most significant updates since The Merge
• Launch of full Verkle Trees implementation, significantly optimizing storage and enabling more efficient state management

2. Polygon

2024 marked a transformative year for Polygon, as its community and ecosystem transitioned from MATIC to POL as the network's native token. This community-driven transition established POL as the native gas and staking token for Polygon PoS, with a 1:1 migration ratio and backwards compatibility ensuring seamless operations for existing applications and users. The network's commitment to zero-knowledge technology and innovative approach to scaling solutions resulting in significant transaction volume growth and reduced fees. This has made Polygon an increasingly attractive platform for developers and users alike.

Key Developments to watch for in 2025:

• Evolution of POL's utility within the planned staking hub and aggregated network ecosystem
• Launch of "Polygon Aggregation Layer" in Q2 2025, unifying various Polygon scaling solutions under a single interface
• Continued implementation of the new tokenomics model, including the 2% emission structure supporting network security and community development

3. Solana

Solana demonstrated remarkable resilience and growth throughout 2024. Its focus on performance optimization led to enhanced stability and reduced downtime incidents. The successful September mainnet deployment of the Frankendancer validator client - an early version of the full Firedancer client, marked significant progress in Solana's multi-client strategy for improved network reliability. Solana's mobile strategy, centered around the 1st-gen Saga phone and Mobile Stack, opened new and intriguing avenues for blockchain adoption. A new version of Solana’s Saga mobile device, dubbed the "Solana Seeker" has over 140,000 pre-orders and promises to test the limits of what blockchain-backed mobile devices have to offer. 

Key Developments to watch for in 2025:

• The official mainnet release of the Firedancer validator client
• Network optimization for validator performance
• Launch of the next-generation Solana Seeker mobile device

4. Sui

Sui's novel parallelized transaction processing architecture gained significant traction in 2024. The network's object-centric model proved particularly effective for gaming and NFT applications, leading to partnerships with major gaming studios. Sui's developer ecosystem expanded rapidly, driven by its intuitive programming model and the growing adoption of the Move programming language. SHIO - The Sui network’s first first comprehensive MEV protection protocol - was built out to retain value within the Sui ecosystem moving forward. Sui's emphasis on horizontal scalability resulted in impressive throughput capabilities while maintaining cost-effectiveness. Sui also announced the impending release of the SuiPlay0X1 - a handheld gaming device the opens up intriguing new possibilities in the blockchain gaming space. 

Key Developments to watch for 2025:

• Launch of SuiPlay0X1 handheld gaming device 
• Further integration with Walrus, enhancing Sui's decentralized storage capabilities
• Expansion of Move ecosystem and developer tooling

5. Aptos

Aptos built upon its foundation as a scalable, interoperable, and sustainable L1 blockchain in 2024, achieving new milestones in transaction processing speed. Its strategic focus on ecosystem growth through DeFi applications and institutional partnerships paid off, attracting significant liquidity and established financial players. The continued development of the Move ecosystem, shared with Sui, created a robust environment for developers seeking high-performance blockchain solutions.

Key Developments to watch for in 2025:

• Further optimization of Block-STM parallel execution
• Enhancement of Move-based DeFi infrastructure/ecosystem

6. Celestia

Celestia's modular blockchain approach gained substantial validation in 2024, with numerous projects adopting its data availability layer (DAL). Its efficient data availability sampling enabled new scaling possibilities for the larger blockchain ecosystem, and its innovative approach to consensus and data storage attracted significant developer interest, leading to the emergence of various specialized execution layers built on top of its infrastructure. The implementation of Celestia’s latest upgrade, dubbed “Lemongrass”, meanwhile, opened up new and intriguing possibilities for seamless asset streaming across blockchain ecosystems, and positioned Celestia as an industry-leader in solving this crucial infrastructure issue. 

Key Developments to watch for in 2025:

• Development and adoption of “Lazybridging” - a novel approach to cross-chain asset transfers 
• Expansion of modular blockchain tooling and infrastructure
• Ongoing quest toward 1GB blocks

7. Axelar

With the launch of Axelar’s Interchain Amplifier - which enhances the capabilities and reach of decentralized applications (dApps), Axelar strengthened its position as a leading scaling solution and cross-chain communication network in 2024. The platform's General Message Passing (GMP) protocol saw widespread adoption, facilitating secure and efficient cross-chain interactions. Axelar's infrastructure proved beneficial for the growing trend of cross-chain DeFi applications, enabling seamless asset and data transfer across multiple blockchain networks. Its efforts to unify the disparate EVM ecosystem showed great promise, while its security model and validator set demonstrated reliability at scale.

Key Developments to watch for in 2025:

• Ongoing efforts to solve liquidity fragmentation in the EVM ecosystem and unlock interoperability for Web 3.0 builders
• Development of cross-chain smart contract infrastructure
• Development and adoption of the Axelar Interchain Amplifier

8. Sei

Sei emerged as one of the fastest-growing L1 ecosystems in the space in 2024. Its optimized infrastructure for DeFi applications showed impressive result, while its parallel order matching engine and specialized execution environment delivered exceptional performance for decentralized trading applications. Sei's focus on reducing latency and improving price oracle reliability attracted numerous DeFi projects, establishing it as a preferred platform for high-frequency trading and sophisticated financial applications. The growth of Sei’s emerging  NFT ecosystem, meanwhile, demonstrated the network’s overall capacity and attracted numerous builders and artists to the Sei ecosystem. 

Key Developments to watch for in 2025:

• Ongoing development of the Sei NFT ecosystem
• Building upon the tremendous growth and adoption seen since mainnet launch in 2023
• Release of advanced oracle integration framework for real-time price feeds

9. Hyperliquid

Hyperliquid made significant strides in 2024 with its specialized infrastructure for decentralized derivatives trading. The network's innovative approach to on-chain order book management and settlement demonstrated the potential for bringing traditional finance capabilities to DeFi. What set Hyperliquid apart was its strong emphasis on community-driven development and governance, fostering an engaged ecosystem of traders and developers. Its focus on community feedback and participation in protocol development, combined with efforts to reduce trading costs and improve capital efficiency, resulted in growing adoption among both retail and institutional traders.

Key Developments to watch for in 2025:

• Evolution of on-chain orderbook and settlement systems
• Development of cross-chain margin trading capabilities
• Enhancement of risk management infrastructure

10. Saga

Saga made significant strides in 2024 with its configurable blockchain architecture, culminating in the launch of Saga Mainnet 2.0 - an upgrade designed to address liquidity challenges and eliminate gas fees in the Saga ecosystem. A historic milestone was achieved with Uniswap v3's deployment as the first app chain on Saga's natively multichain protocol, enabling gasless trading experiences. Working with infrastructure partners Evmos for EVM runtime and Squid Router for token swapping services, Saga demonstrated a radical departure from traditional blockchain economics by eliminating per-transaction gas fees in favor of capturing value from network flow.

Key Developments to watch for in 2025:

• Launch of the Liquidity Integration Layer (LiL) in Q1 2025, creating a unified liquidity environment across blockchain ecosystems
• Expansion of gasless transactions and seamless asset movement between chains through LiL
• Further development of the Uniswap Chainlet ecosystem, demonstrating Saga's new economic model

Up and Comers to Watch in 2025

While the above-mentioned networks have risen as our top 10 picks to watch in 2025, they certainly aren’t the only networks we at Stakin’ will be keeping a close eye on. Several lesser-known and emerging emerging networks are also showing remarkable promise and innovation. These networks, while still in their early stages, demonstrate unique approaches to blockchain technology that could very well prove to change the blockchain game in the years to come. Here are just a few of those:

Walrus

Walrus emerged in 2024 as a groundbreaking decentralized storage solution. Developed by Mysten Labs to operate on top of the Sui blockchain, Walrus’ novel approach to data storage and retrieval addresses many of the inefficiencies found in current storage solutions like Filecoin. Unlike existing decentralized storage networks that rely on full replication, Walrus's architecture enables efficient blob storage while maintaining high levels of data integrity and availability.

Key Developments to watch for in 2025:

• Mainnet launch scheduled for Q2 2025
• Development of storage node infrastructure
• Deployment of economic staking mechanisms to incentivize storage providers and ensure long-term network reliability

Monad

Monad's ambitious architecture, combining high-performance execution with robust security guarantees, positions it as a potential game-changer in the blockchain space. Its EVM parallelization and innovative state management techniques demonstrated impressive benchmarks during testnet phases. The platform's emphasis on backward compatibility with existing EVM tooling while offering significant performance improvements has generated substantial interest from developers and projects looking to scale their applications.

Key Developments to watch for in 2025:

• Evolution of EVM-compatible infrastructure
• Development of native staking mechanisms
• Building of cross-chain capabilities

IOTA 2.0

The ongoing evolution of IOTA, demonstrated by its 2.0 update represents a significant advancement in DAG-based distributed ledger technology. The removal of the coordinator node marks an important step toward true decentralization, while maintaining IOTA's distinctive fee-less transaction model. The network's focus on IoT integration and industrial applications, combined with its enhanced smart contract capabilities, positions it uniquely in the blockchain ecosystem. Throughout 2024, IOTA 2.0's testnet demonstrated the potential for scalable, secure, and efficient machine-to-machine communications.

Key Developments to watch for in 2025:

• Implementation of the “IOTA Rebased” network upgrade
• Development of smart contract capabilities
• Expansion of IoT integration features

BeraChain

Berachain’s innovative Proof-of-Liquidity (PoL) consensus mechanism has positioned this emerging network as one to watch in the promising decentralized finance (DeFi) space. Berachain garnered significant community attention and enthusiasm in 2024 through its novel tri-token tokenomics design and the launch of its V2 testnet version, dubbed “bArtio”. BeraChain's approach to incentivizing liquidity provision has resonated strongly with the DeFi community, generating substantial anticipation for its upcoming mainnet launch.

Key Developments to watch for in 2025:

• Mainnet launch
• Growth of DeFi ecosystem

Story Protocol

Story Protocol generated serious buzz in 2024 as a specialized blockchain infrastructure focused on intellectual property (IP) management and monetization. By creating a dedicated chain for IP rights and licensing, Story Protocol aims to revolutionize how creative content is managed, shared, and monetized in the web3 ecosystem. Story's focus on providing infrastructure for IP management represents a unique approach to solving emerging and important challenges in the creative arena. Its first public testnet - “Iliad” - went live in November, and numerous promising Story partnerships are already taking shape as 2024 draws to a close.

Key Developments to watch for in 2025:

• Mainnet launch
• Expansion of creative industry partnerships
• Development and adoption of real-world proof of concept.

Final Thoughts

The rapidly shifting blockchain landscape of 2024 demonstrated remarkable maturity and innovation across various specialized niches. From Ethereum's continued dominance in the layer-1 space to the emergence of purpose-built networks like Sei and Hyperliquid, each platform has contributed uniquely to the larger blockchain ecosystem's growth. As 2025 dawns, these networks are well-positioned to driving adoption and innovation during the watershed moment this promising industry is currently experiencing.

The success of both established and emerging networks highlights several key trends: 1) the growing importance of blockchain scalability solutions, 2) the rise of specialized chains for specific use cases, and 3) the critical role cross-chain interoperability promises to play in the next iteration of this powerful technology’s evolution. 

Whether through technical innovation, ecosystem development, or specialized functionality, these networks - and many more like them - are laying the groundwork for the generation of decentralized applications and services that will bring blockchain technology to the masses in the months and years ahead.

DISCLAIMER: This is not financial advice. Staking, delegation, and cryptocurrencies involve a high degree of risk, and there is always the possibility of loss, including the failure of all staked digital assets. Additionally, delegators are at risk of slashing in case of security or liveness faults on some protocols. We advise you to do your due diligence before choosing a validator.