During his session, Stein highlighted the transformation underway in global finance, noting that traditional securities are still held in legacy systems but that this separation between traditional and tokenized assets is gradually disappearing.
He explained that in the short term, proving utility is the most important thing to gaining broader adoption and that there are currently two types of users driving this shift: those already in the crypto space and a second wave of early institutional adopters.
Stein emphasized the need for continued market momentum to demonstrate the practical usefulness of blockchain solutions and attract larger financial players. “We need that market momentum in order to prove the utility, to actually get the larger players to eventually come in,” he said.
What once seemed like a distant fantasy in crypto’s early days has begun to take shape as reality, and big names like traditional finance are now moving into the crypto industry every day.
Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman also shared her perspective at the event, focusing on the need for regulatory clarity to encourage broader institutional participation in the digital asset space. She explained that major institutions want to engage but require clearly defined rules that prioritize investor protection and establish stable frameworks.
According to her, once such clarity is achieved, these institutions can confidently enter the market knowing that they are operating under secure and transparent guidelines.
This growing involvement is evidence that institutions are not waiting for innovation to reach them. They are actively finding ways to participate in the digital asset ecosystem while awaiting the full regulatory go-ahead. “But I think to get them really engaged in the market, there has to be regulatory clarity,” Friedman said.
