Crypto Regulations and DeFi Tools in 2025: ApeSwap, Argentina, Thailand, and More
When you think about crypto regulations, government rules that control how people buy, sell, and use digital assets. Also known as cryptocurrency laws, it crypto compliance, it's no longer just about taxes—it's about who can touch your money and how. In 2025, countries like Argentina, Taiwan, and Nigeria made it illegal for banks to handle crypto directly, forcing users into licensed VASPs, Virtual Asset Service Providers that are officially approved to move crypto. Meanwhile, Thailand quietly exempted crypto gains from taxes for residents trading on licensed platforms—a move that flew under the radar thanks to a widespread myth about a 15% tax.
Behind the scenes, DeFi exchanges, decentralized platforms that let you swap tokens without a middleman. like ApeSwap on Polygon and Elk Finance on Avalanche became quiet workhorses for small traders. They offered low fees and cross-chain swaps, but none had big volume. That’s the pattern in 2025: useful tools, but few users. And then there were the crypto airdrops, free token distributions meant to reward early supporters. Some, like BUTTER and KNIGHT, had real steps to qualify. Others, like NEKO, DRCT, and LARIX, didn’t exist at all—just fake websites and Telegram bots trying to steal your private keys.
Not every crypto project was built to last. Carrieverse, FantOHM, and LFGSwap (Core) were abandoned—tokens worth pennies, teams gone silent. Even big names like BFX turned out to be relics from Bitfinex’s 2016 hack. But some had real purpose: Bio Protocol funded real biotech research, Decentralized Pictures backed indie films, and Metis powered AI apps on Ethereum. These weren’t memes—they were tools with actual use cases.
What you’ll find here isn’t hype. It’s the truth behind the noise: which exchanges still work, which airdrops are scams, which regulations actually affect you, and which tokens still have a pulse. No fluff. No guesswork. Just what’s real in 2025’s messy, shifting crypto world.