Cryptocurrencies and personal AI: main technological trends to watch in 2025.
Even AI can’t see the future yet, but two of our tech writers took a stab at predicting what might be the trends in 2025.
At the end of 2022, the outlook for the cryptocurrency scene was rather bleak.
One of the best-known companies, FTX, has gone bust, leaving $8bn (£6.3bn) of its customers’ money missing.
In March 2024, co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison for defrauding customers and investors.
This whole mess has shaken the confidence of the entire industry.
It seemed that cryptocurrencies would remain a niche market, attracting a passionate but still fairly small group of supporters.
A few months later, the mood in the industry was buzzing again. The source of this enthusiasm? Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election on November 5.
People thought it would be more supportive of the cryptocurrency world, and so far that seems to be true.
In early December, Trump announced that he would nominate former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins to the Wall Street regulator’s top spot.
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Atkins is considered much more pro-cryptocurrency than the outgoing president, Gary Gensler.
This news sent the value of bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency, beyond $100,000.
“With Trump winning, you can imagine that in 2025 you will get proactive regulation. You will get some negative regulation removed, which will then allow banks and other institutions to enter that space ” says Geoffrey Kendrick, Global Head of Digital Asset Research at Standard Chartered.
Mr. Kendrick specifically highlights an SEC directive known as SAB 121, which has been in effect since 2022. This has created challenges for banks and financial companies seeking to offer cryptocurrency services.
If he follows through on this, it could help Trump fulfill his July promise to make the United States the global hub for cryptocurrencies.
Delivering on this promise would represent a considerable change from 2021, when Trump called Bitcoin a “scam.”
AI becomes more personal
As AI tools begin to make their way to our smartphones (thanks to Apple, Google and Samsung rolling out photo editing, language translation and web search capabilities), we are entering a new phase where AI is becoming a key player in our digital lives. , offering more personal assistance than ever before.
But it’s a bit of a gamble, isn’t it? We must be ready to take this step.
Take for example managing your calendar. An AI can manage your schedule like a pro, but only if you let it look at your calendar. But how much access is excessive?
To be truly useful, should it also know about people you’d rather not meet or relationships you want to keep secret?
Would you like it to summarize your therapy sessions or doctor visits?
These are pretty sensitive things, and if something went wrong it could be both embarrassing and valuable if it came to light. Can you really trust these big tech companies with this kind of information?
Microsoft is really pushing the boundaries here. They faced backlash in 2024 for introducing a tool called Recall, which took photos of laptop screens every few seconds to help users find content they didn’t remember.
The product has gone through several changes, although it was never officially released, but the company still supports it.
“I think we’re heading into a fundamentally new era where there will be ever-present, persistent, and very capable co-pilot companions in your daily life,” the company’s head of AI, Mustafa Suleyman, told me recently .
Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight, believes that even with the obstacles we face, we can expect to see more personalized AI services in 2025.
“Results will be continually updated based on evolving data sources, such as emails, messages, documents and social media interactions.
“This will allow the AI service to be specifically tailored to a person’s communication style, needs and preferences,” he says.
But Wood says letting AI run amok on your personal information will be a big step.
“Trust will be key,” says Mr Wood.
Data is on the move
As more cash is invested in AI, the demand for new data centers is set to increase.
Running and training AI requires a ton of computing power, and it really shines with the latest chips and servers.
Over the next five years, major players like Google, Microsoft and Meta could pump up to $1 trillion into data centers, according to CCS Insight.
In Europe, from 2024 to 2028, data center capacity can be expected to increase by around 9% each year, as reported by real estate services company Savills.
However, these new installations are unlikely to appear in the usual data center hotspots like London, Frankfurt and Amsterdam.
Sky-high property prices in these towns (Savills notes that land in London can fetch £17m per acre) as well as limited electricity supplies mean developers will look for other locations.
In the UK, cities like Cambridge, Manchester and Birmingham could well be the next big hubs for data center development.
Other European cities like Prague, Genoa, Munich, Düsseldorf and Milan should also be on the radar.
Nvidia’s latest computer chip, which is expected to power some of the new data centers, is making waves in the AI market. Launched in March 2024, the Blackwell chip is expected to begin shipping in large quantities by 2025.
This new technology would allow companies to train AI models four times faster and perform AI tasks 30 times faster than current chips, as noted by Vivek Arya, senior analyst at Bank of America Securities .
Reports suggest that Nvidia’s major customers including Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Coreweave will be the first to get their hands on this cutting-edge technology. However, other customers may struggle to access the superchip, with Mr Arya saying supply could be limited in 2025.
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Advances in cryptocurrencies and personal AI in 2025 promise an exciting future. With more favorable regulations and growing institutional support, cryptocurrencies could see wider adoption, transforming the global financial landscape. The rise of personalized AI services offers enormous potential, delivering tailored experiences that improve daily life while preserving privacy and trust.
Continued investments in data centers and cutting-edge technologies like Nvidia’s new chips will fuel these innovations, driving advancements in AI and beyond. These developments are expected to improve convenience, efficiency and security, making 2025 a pivotal year for both the technology industry and consumers.
