Mainstream applications finally coming out of crypto
12 min read
For more than fifteen years, blockchain conversations have centered around price charts, token cycles and a rotating cast of fleeting trends. In 2025, a new phase is unfolding in which blockchain begins to function as a quiet rail beneath consumer apps, creator platforms, collectibles frenzies and institutional finance.
When looking back, earlier cycles revolved around Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), where whitepapers and token launches attracted quick speculative inflows. Later followed by the rise of NFT innovation leading to digital art sales and memecoins which moved largely on viral catalysts and short-lived trading spikes. Parallel to these consumer-driven waves, a separate corporate phase emerged in 2024-2025 in the rise of Bitcoin treasury companies and broader Digital asset treasury (DAT) companies, where firms adopted Bitcoin or other digital assets.
From niche to mainstream
To show how this transition is unfolding, several live products reveal how blockchains now operate beneath the surface while users interact with familiar interfaces:
Polymarket’s earnings and macro markets: Real-time forecasting that settles in USDC on Polygon, showing how prediction trading now relies on public rails rather than bespoke systems.
Collector Crypt’s tokenised Pokémon cards: Graded collectibles converted into Solana-based assets with instant liquidity and verifiable provenance.
BlackRock’s tokenisation initiative: Traditional fund structures migrated onto public networks to offer transparent, programmable settlement and wider accessibility.
Galaxy Digital’s on-chain money-market fund: A regulated product that combines familiar financial instruments with immediate blockchain settlement across multiple networks.
Real life consumer application
Blockchain now underpins a growing set of consumer-facing products that operate at the intersection of finance, entertainment and information markets. The common thread is straightforward: the infrastructure carries real economic activity, but the interfaces look and feel like conventional digital products. The emphasis is shifting from talking about blockchains to simply using systems that depend on them.
Prediction markets enter the spotlight
Forecasting platforms have shifted from niche experiments into tools that track events people already follow including earning releases, interest-rate decisions, elections and sports outcomes. The appeal is simple: these markets turn information into live probabilities, giving participants a clearer read on what might happen next.
The benefits associated with prediction markets for everyday participants are straightforward:
Clearer expectations than headlines or social media: Prediction markets compress collective expectations into a single number. Instead of scrolling through conflicting opinions, participants see live probabilities that adjust instantly as news arrives. Example: Polymarket publishes real-time odds on earnings surprises, rate cuts and election outcomes.
Faster settlement and lower friction: Trades settle through stablecoins on networks such as Polygon, removing delays found in traditional platforms. Participants interact with simple dashboards, charts, buttons and probabilities, while stablecoins like USDC handle settlement quietly in the background.
Access to information that was once limited to analysts: Earnings-linked markets were traditionally shaped by institutional desks. Now anyone can view and trade the same expectations ahead of major announcements. Example: Live odds on quarterly EPS outcomes for companies such as FedEx or crypto exchange Bullish appear directly on Polymarket’s corporate earnings markets.
Regulation is forcing clearer rules: Recent legal battles pushed forecasting into mainstream financial conversations. Court rulings around Kalshi confirm that certain event contracts can operate under federal commodities rules, while state-level disputes highlight where boundaries still need clarification. Example: Kalshi’s event-contract platform continues to operate federally as a CFTC-regulated exchange.
Tokenised collectibles are a market
Prediction platforms show how information markets are moving on-chain. A similar shift is playing out in entertainment and collectibles, where activity has accelerated far beyond early experiments. Solana now hosts a wide range of tokenised card markets, drops and on-chain vending machines. Platforms such as Collector Crypt, Courtyard, Emporium and Phygitals illustrate how trading once limited to physical binders and auction websites now operates through rapid digital settlement.
The appeal comes from practical features that traditional marketplaces cannot match:
Instant resell mechanics: Items can be sold back or listed immediately without waiting for physical handling or third-party verification.
Round-the-clock market access: Trading continues without daily closures or weekend downtime.
Verifiable rarity data: Tokenised assets include on-chain metadata that confirms supply, grading and scarcity.
Transparent provenance: Each item carries a complete ownership record visible on-chain, removing doubts around authenticity.
Fast execution powered by fast networks (Solana, Polygon, Base…): High-throughput settlement enables near-instant purchases, redemptions and buybacks.
Monthly activity in the tens of millions demonstrates that this is not a small collector niche. Pop-culture communities have utilized tokenised formats because they remove friction that previously slowed trading and valuation. These might include:
Collector Crypt’s or Courtyard tokenised Pokémon cards: Graded cards minted as Solana and Polygon assets, allowing instant resale, automated buybacks and on-chain verification instead of slow eBay listings or physical shipping delays.
Emporium’s Gacha-style pack openings: Users buy digital packs that reveal tokenised cards in seconds, no physical logistics, no waiting for shipments and transparent rarity odds published directly on-chain.
Phygitals’ redemption-based collectibles: Physical toys and cards are tied to digital tokens, letting users trade the digital claim instantly while redeeming the physical item later if desired.
Pudgy Penguins’ toy-to-NFT bridge: Retail plush toys come with scannable codes linking to on-chain traits, making collectibles tradeable globally instead of being limited to local hobby shops.
The blockchain layer remains largely invisible through this process.
Yet, interfaces present simple buy, sell and redeem actions, while each instruction is executed on-chain within seconds. Physical marketplaces like eBay rely on multi-day listing, verification and shipping cycles, preventing the kind of second-by-second liquidity that on-chain markets generate.
Of course, mainstream finance getting on-chain too
Institutional adoption has accelerated in a way that marks a clear break from earlier cycles. Traditional asset managers are no longer running limited pilots or isolated proof-of-concept yet institutions are issuing regulated products that operate directly on public blockchains.
A defining example is BlackRock’s launch of BUIDL, its first tokenised liquidity fund issued on Ethereum. The fund allows qualified investors to subscribe through Securitize Markets, with tokenised shares that settle instantly, update transparently on-chain and pay monthly dividends directly to investor wallets.
BUIDL invests in cash, U.S. Treasury bills and repurchase agreements, targeting a stable $1 token value while providing the liquidity profile of an institutional money-market fund. BlackRock’s strategic investment in Securitize, the fund’s transfer agent and tokenization partner, together with BNY Mellon’s role in linking digital and traditional custody, indicates that tokenization is being embedded directly into established financial workflows.
Other firms are following this pattern.
Galaxy Digital is developing a tokenised money-market product intended to operate across chains such as Ethereum, Solana and Stellar, with Anchorage Digital Bank providing regulated custody. The goal is consistent across these initiatives and combines familiar yield-bearing instruments with programmable settlement, continuous transferability and transparent reporting that traditional fund structures cannot offer.
Subscriptions, redemptions and custody continue to run through regulated onboarding portals and familiar interfaces. The blockchain layer functions in the background, enabling faster settlement, continuous auditability and broader distribution without requiring users to manage wallets or navigate technical details.
Blockchain as invisible infrastructure
Bitcoin continues to serve as a store of value with unmatched decentralization and simplicity. Yet the broader story lies in the chains, tools and protocols emerging as foundational infrastructure for new markets.
Across prediction platforms, collectibles marketplaces, streaming ecosystems and institutional funds, public networks execute core logic out of sight. The result is a set of rails that quietly shape digital activity effecting:
Earnings-forecast markets: Pricing corporate and macro outcomes in real time through on-chain settlement.
Solana-based collectibles: Generating millions in daily trading volume through fast, verifiable asset transfers.
Creator-linked monetization models: Introducing on-chain revenue flows that differ from traditional media payout structures.
Tokenised institutional funds: Scaling assets under management while operating directly on public networks.
For investors, exposure to these networks offers a way to participate in the rails powering this shift. For markets, the progression marks a moment where blockchain moves beyond headline cycles and settles into a role similar to cloud computing which is widely used, rarely foregrounded and increasingly essential to how digital systems operate.
