Future Prospects for Large-Scale Adoption of Crypto Assets

The widespread application of new technologies typically takes a considerable amount of time. For example, in the United States, it took 78 years for automobiles to reach a 92% penetration rate, 48 years for household electricity to become fully widespread, and 26 years for the internet to achieve an 88% usage rate.

Although the concepts of blockchain and Crypto Assets have become deeply ingrained, most people have not actually used these services. This phenomenon may stem from several reasons:

1. Institutional funding channels are restricted.
2. The access channel for ordinary users is not smooth.
3. Lack of investment targets that appeal to the general public's taste
4. The entry barrier for developers is relatively high
5. The infrastructure is not yet sufficient to support large-scale applications.

However, even in the current bear market, there are still some positive signs that Crypto Assets are moving towards mass adoption.

1. Bitcoin Spot ETF: Opening the Door for Traditional Capital to Enter

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC ) has recently extended the review period for certain Bitcoin spot ETF applications. Nevertheless, there is a generally optimistic attitude within the industry regarding the prospects of Bitcoin spot ETF approvals. Industry insiders predict that a Bitcoin spot ETF may be approved within the next 4 to 6 months.

The launch of the Bitcoin spot ETF will greatly simplify the process of investing in Bitcoin. The US stock market is dominated by institutional investors, with entities like mutual funds accounting for 55% of the market share. Therefore, the introduction of the Bitcoin spot ETF is not only likely to attract potential investors from the mainstream stock market but also, more importantly, provides a convenient entry point for large institutional investors.

According to data platform analysis, the assets under management of financial products related to Bitcoin (including Bitcoin trusts, futures ETFs, and spot ETFs in other countries) have reached $28.8 billion. Based on this data, the industry predicts that the listing of a Bitcoin spot ETF may bring about $30 billion in new demand.

2. A payment giant launches a USD stablecoin: opening up an entry channel for ordinary users

Recently, a globally renowned mobile payment company launched a USD stablecoin for transfers and payments on the Ethereum network. The company covers 202 countries and regions, supports 24 currencies, and has over 400 million monthly active users, making it the first large fintech company to embrace digital currency payment transfers.

This stablecoin is backed by 100% USD deposits, short-term U.S. Treasury bills, and similar cash equivalents. Users can use this stablecoin for peer-to-peer payments, to pay merchants at checkout, or to exchange it for other Crypto Assets supported by the company.

The company's vision is to become a bridge between fiat currency and Web3, promoting the mainstream adoption of stablecoin payment systems. Compared to existing dollar stablecoins in the Crypto Assets industry, this newly launched stablecoin has a natural advantage in attracting users and is expected to bring tens of millions of new users to the Crypto Assets industry.

3. The Surge of Real World Assets (RWA): A Gateway for Traditional Institutions to Participate in Crypto Assets

In the past six months, RWA has become a hot topic in the market. Supporters believe that RWA will introduce real-world assets and yields, significantly increasing the asset scale of Crypto Assets. Although there are some challenges in the tokenization and settlement of off-chain RWA, the industry has already developed some settlement mechanisms based on collateral, staking, arbitrage, and games.

Opponents argue that most RWA projects still rely on centralized trust in "compliance" and "audit," failing to fully achieve trustlessness, which is inconsistent with the core principles of Crypto Assets.

Despite the controversy, RWA may still become an important entry point for traditional large institutions to participate in and co-build the Crypto Assets ecosystem. Just as some payment giants have entered the Crypto Assets field using USD stablecoins, RWA offers traditional institutions a relatively familiar and "low-risk" way to participate.

4. Blockchain Supporting Multiple Programming Languages: Attracting More Web2 Developers

Currently, the Crypto Assets industry has two trends coexisting in programming languages:

1. Explore new languages optimized for specific application scenarios (such as zero-knowledge proofs, formal verification, etc.).
2. Develop blockchains that support multiple programming languages to attract more Web2 developers.

Blockchain platforms that support multiple programming languages may attract more Web2 developers into the Web3 space. Currently, the number of Web3 developers is only in the hundreds of thousands, while Web2 developers exceed ten million. This trend is expected to create a more prosperous ecosystem, thereby capturing more value.

5. The infrastructure is gradually improving, paving the way for large-scale applications.

The Ethereum ecosystem has developed a series of Layer 2 scaling solutions, such as Optimism, Arbitrum, StarkNet, and zkSync, which show significant performance improvements compared to the Ethereum main chain.

In addition, the modular blockchain field is also developing rapidly. Some projects have the potential to support large-scale blockchain applications in their respective areas.

Overall, compared to previous cycles, the current Crypto Assets infrastructure has made significant progress and is expected to support the emergence of large-scale blockchain applications.