Pablo Larguia is CEO of SenseiNode.
What were the key theme(s) for your business in 2024?
In 2024, we saw blockchain and cryptocurrency adoption reach new heights, particularly in Latin America, where Argentina was one of the key drivers as residents flocked to stablecoins amid currency devaluation. This trend was significant for our company, as it highlighted the growing relevance and need to address the gap between the adoption of crypto and the availability of local infrastructure.
To help with this rising demand and support a decentralized blockchain ecosystem, we prioritized expanding blockchain infrastructure. This involved deploying new validator nodes on leading Proof-of-Stake protocols, such as Ethereum, Polygon and Solana, reaching a total of more than 9000 validators by the end of the year.
By increasing the number of validators in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico, we are contributing to enhancing the performance of all peers in the region, which has historically been neglected by most protocols due to the difficulty and barriers of deploying nodes locally.
What trends are getting underway that people may not know about but will be important?
The accelerated emergence of Bitcoin Layer 2 (L2) networks is unlocking new opportunities to increase the liquidity available in the blockchain ecosystem by making it possible for Bitcoin holders to stake their assets. It has also opened the doors to the composability, ecosystem and capabilities of Ethereum smart contracts for dApps, leveraging Bitcoin’s security.
Alongside this, the growth of L2 requires more cross chain interoperability, which will revolutionize digital asset mobility across different ecosystems, and drive the need for more infrastructure that can provide finality on the chains involved in a transaction. Espresso, Avail and Wormhole are clear examples of this trend. This will enable users to leverage the benefits of various networks without having assets stuck in one chain – promoting greater decentralization and enhancing resilience.
As this trend continues, it’s vital that blockchain networks prioritize scalability and usability to accommodate growing demand and ensure sustainable growth. This means expanding node infrastructure and establishing its presence across diverse geographies to ensure that each network’s performance, security, and reliability is properly maintained.
What are your expectations for 2025?
With the anticipated pro-crypto stance of the incoming Trump administration, it will be interesting to see how the blockchain landscape changes and how other jurisdictions will follow. Particularly, the potential authorization for ETFs to include staked tokens as part of their underlying assets, which will allow investors to earn yield beyond price speculation. We expect this might drive a surge of staked tokens across those protocols that already have an ETF on the market, further boosting the adoption of staking.
We are also optimistic that there will be significant advancement in the potential for Bitcoin staking through L2s such as Botanix Labs’s Spiderchain and SatLayer, along with Babylon and Stacks. These platforms will enable new use cases for Bitcoin beyond its traditional role, and further integrate Bitcoin’s infrastructure into the wide blockchain landscape.
Additionally, restaking has grown considerably on larger blockchain networks in 2024. We foresee this continuing in the New Year, which will require node networks to be able to support more complex infrastructure and accommodate an expanded blockchain ecosystem.
