Will real utility or global headlines drive crypto prices in 2025?

One tweet from a hacked president’s account sent Bitcoin soaring past $110K. Meanwhile, halfway across the world, Chainlink quietly helped two central banks move digital money across borders. Two wildly different stories. One market. And the big question for 2025: Is crypto finally being driven by what it does - or still by what it says in the headlines?

The crypto headline read around the world

Let’s start with the chaos.

On a quiet Monday, the X account of Paraguayan President Santiago Peña was hijacked. The imposter post boldly claimed that Paraguay had declared Bitcoin legal tender, with a $5 million BTC reserve to back it up. 

The post even dropped a wallet address urging people to “secure your stake”. Within minutes, the real government flagged it as fake. But the damage, or rather, the surge, was already done. Bitcoin jumped 4%, topping $110,000, riding a wave of algorithmic traders and retail excitement.

It was classic crypto: one wild headline and the markets lit up like a Christmas tree. And yet, no one lost money. The wallet only held $4, and the tweet was gone within the hour. But the price spike? That stuck around.

Meanwhile, Chainlink crypto news was shaking up the real world...

While Twitter (X) was faking monetary policy, Chainlink was actually enabling it.

As part of a major cross-border pilot, Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) was used to exchange Hong Kong’s central bank digital currency (e-HKD) for an Australian dollar stablecoin. This wasn’t a demo at a blockchain expo. It was part of a live trial sanctioned by Hong Kong’s government involving Visa, Fidelity, and ChinaAMC.

And it worked.

It’s easy to ignore these quieter moments, there’s no viral tweet, no flash rally. But they matter. This is the real infrastructure being laid beneath crypto,  public blockchains linking to government-backed currencies. That’s utility, not hype.

Another bullish signal? Coinglass’s LINK long-to-short ratio just hit 1.25 - its highest in over a month. A ratio above 1 means more traders are betting on a price increase than a drop, pointing to growing market optimism.

Ripple’s Japan power move

Over in Japan, Ripple is also playing the long game. The company partnered with the Web3 Salon project, backed by JETRO, to offer up to $200,000 in grants per startup through its XRPL Japan and Korea Fund. The focus? Decentralised finance (DeFi), tokenised assets, and payments - all built on the XRP Ledger.

It’s part of Ripple’s broader $1 billion XRP commitment, aimed squarely at nurturing real-world applications. Japan may have regulatory clarity, but its startup scene faces tight structures and high entry barriers. Ripple’s move isn’t just generous - it’s strategic.

And markets noticed. XRP rebounded strongly, eyeing its fourth straight day of gains as open interest in XRP futures hit $4.1 billion - the highest in over a month.

SEC crypto news: The regulatory reboot

Here’s where things get even more interesting.

At the SEC’s DeFi roundtable in Washington D.C., Chair Paul Atkins did something unexpected: he embraced the concept of self-custody. He called it a “foundational American value” and suggested that developers of DeFi tools shouldn’t be punished for building wallets that let users hold their own assets.

In short: a U.S. regulator just told DeFi developers to keep building.

That’s a far cry from the regulatory chill of years past when the mere act of coding a non-custodial wallet could land you in hot water. It’s not full regulatory clarity yet, but it’s a notable shift - and one that could unlock serious innovation if it continues.

But are any of these moving crypto market trends?

Here's where the real tug-of-war begins.

On one hand, crypto prices still respond most violently to external noise - hacked tweets, trade negotiations, ETF approvals, and the occasional Elon Musk meme. On the other hand, the underlying drivers of long-term value, cross-border CBDC pilots, DeFi infrastructure, funding for builders, are all quietly maturing in the background.

Bernstein’s recent report exemplifies this paradox. The firm re-affirmed its $200,000 Bitcoin price forecast, calling it “conservative”. Why? Not hype, not halving cycles - but the structural integration of Bitcoin into global capital markets, driven by institutional adoption and the rise of spot ETFs now managing $120 billion in assets.

That’s real. And it’s happening.

So, what will really drive crypto prices in 2025?

Probably both.

The headlines will always move markets in the short term. We live in an age where a single tweet - real or fake - can trigger billions in trades. But over time, it’s the quieter work being done by Chainlink, Ripple, and developers building on open protocols that will form the bedrock of price stability and sustained growth.

Hype may light the match. But utility builds the fire. 

Chainlink technical insight

At the time of writing, there’s a notable price uptick within a sell zone - hinting that we could see a retreat. However, volume bars have shown a buy pressure bias over the past few days - hinting that buy pressure could prevail, leading to a further price uptick. If further uptick materialises, we could see price encounter resistance walls at the $15.30 and $16.75 price levels. Conversely, if we see a slump, prices could be held at the $13.65 and $12.90 support levels.

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