State of Crypto Now: How Stablecoins, Institutions & AI Are Driving Web3’s Next Chapter

Over the past few years, a mix of technological innovation and favorable regulatory changes has ushered in a new era for cryptocurrencies and the blockchain. No longer a speculative niche, the $4 trillion blockchain economy is quickly getting integrated within the mainstream global financial system.

Amid this growing mainstream adoption, is the crypto industry’s increased focus on security, compliance, and user protection. A powerful signal came from Binance this year, when the company became the first in the world to secure ISO/IEC 42001 certification — the global standard for trustworthy AI management systems.

Recently, Binance Chief Security Officer Jimmy Su described the milestone, “At Binance, securing ISO/IEC 42001 certification marks a pivotal milestone in our unwavering commitment to pioneering secure and responsible AI. As the world's first global standard for AI management systems, it validates our rigorous frameworks for ethical development, bias detection, transparency, and full compliance with the EU AI Act—safeguarding users and ecosystems alike. This achievement isn't just a badge of excellence; it's a testament to our proactive stance against evolving AI risks, ensuring every innovation is built on trust and accountability. I'm immensely proud of our global teams whose expertise and collaboration made this possible. Looking ahead, Binance will continue leading the charge in trustworthy AI, empowering the crypto industry to thrive securely in an AI-driven future.”

From fintechs like PayPal and Block Inc., to more traditional financial service companies like Visa and Citibank, are entering the crypto space in droves.

This has been fueled by the emergence of regulatory clarity, particularly in the United States, thanks to last summer’s signing of the GENIUS Act into law. Regulatory clarity has also emerged in other jurisdictions, such as the European Union (EU), where the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) has been signed into law and implemented.

While the above-mentioned companies are focused largely on mainstreaming crypto-based payments, other venerable institutions are moving heavily into the asset management end of the crypto economy. Asset managers like BlackRock have entered the spot crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF) business, with the Wall Street Giant launching ETFs like the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT).

As the use of Stablecoins has become a cheaper, less cumbersome way of sending money across the world, mainstream payment processing companies and other institutions are now embracing their use as an alternative to traditional ACH and bank wire transactions.

Companies like Visa have started to use Stablecoins for payment settlement purposes, with the famed payment processor now offering such services across four different crypto blockchains.

Related to the rise of stablecoins is the asset tokenization trend. This is another area where large asset managers, like BlackRock, have entered, alongside traditional financial service companies like J.P. MorganChase.

With institutional demand for tokenized assets rising rapidly, the total value of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) has increased at a fast pace as well. As of now, the total value of such assets comes to around $36 billion.

It’s not only traditional industries like financial services that are converging with the crypto economy. The artificial intelligence space may still be in its infancy, but since the phrase “generative AI” entered the public lexicon following the late 2022 launch of ChatGPT, crypto has emerged as a likely solution to many of the “pain points” limiting AI’s own mainstream expansion.

These pain points include verification systems, monetization of AI agents, and IP licensing. Blockchain technology, wired to be decentralized in nature, could also help to balance the scales, to prevent big tech’s domination of AI.

While the future has yet to unfold, from these various trends, we can get a general idea of the next chapter for the industry, and its relationship with the mainstream economy. In the years ahead, expect the “old school” financial service companies to continue their pivot into crypto.

At the same time, crypto-native institutions could further benefit from increased institutional capital inflows. Global payments could become more reliant on stablecoin technology, while the further adoption of AI may hinge on its convergence with blockchain technology.