From Hype To Hard Assets: How Regulatory Clarity Is Making Blockchain A Core Financial Layer

For over a decade, the blockchain economy has moved in waves of innovation and speculation. Periods of explosive hype give way to “winters” of deep retracement. However, what lies ahead looks a whole lot different.

Across the globe, clear regulations and increased institutional adoption are transforming the blockchain. No longer a speculative sideshow, it’s becoming embedded in the mainstream financial and technological infrastructure.

That shift was underscored at Binance Blockchain Week 2025. At the event, Real Vision co-founder and CEO Raoul Pal delivered a forceful macro message; crypto’s future will be driven less by narrative cycles and more by liquidity, regulation, and institutional balance sheets.

“This is not the start of a bear market,” Pal told the audience. “It’s a correction inside an ongoing bull market.” But Pal’s broader point went far beyond price action. The fundamental transformation, he argued, is structural. Blockchain is transitioning from hype-driven trading to regulated settlement, collateral, payments, and enterprise computing. In other words, the core assets of modern finance.

Regulation Pulls Blockchain Into the Financial Core

The real catalyst showed up last summer. That’s when the U.S. passed its first comprehensive crypto law. The heart of it was the GENIUS Act, which laid out straightforward rules for dollar-backed stablecoins. Issuers now have to be fully reserved, report their balances every month, and clearly outline exactly how customers are protected in the event of a firm failure.

That shift changes everything. For the first time, stablecoins are being governed much like core banking products, which goes a long way toward legitimising them as actual payment and settlement tools rather than just crypto market plumbing.

The GENIUS advanced alongside the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which assigns regulatory oversight by asset function. Commodity-like assets such as Bitcoin fall under the CFTC’s jurisdiction, while securities-like tokens fall under the jurisdiction of the SEC. Together, these measures form the scaffolding of a U.S. digital-asset rulebook. Raoul Pal sees this regulatory foundation as a direct input into the next phase of market structure. “This four-year cycle handed down from Satoshi isn’t some law of nature,” he said. 

“Liquidity drives this market—and global liquidity is about to surge,” Pal added, citing factors like fiscal stimulus, banking leverage rule changes, and a weakening U.S. Dollar.

Stablecoins and Traditional Banking Converge

The Stablecoin and tokenised deposit spaces are expanding at a rapid clip. Before, Stablecoins were used primarily on crypto exchanges like Binance. Now, they are being used for a variety of payment, treasury management, and remittance purposes.

The total stablecoin supply reached roughly $300 billion by late 2025, and forecasts now project issuance of between $1.9 trillion and $4 trillion by 2030. Meanwhile, banks are deploying tokenised deposits, or blockchain representations of commercial bank money that offer stablecoin-like speed within regulated balance sheets. JPMorgan’s JPMD already supports 24/7 institutional settlement, and other global banks are building similar systems.

Stablecoins are open-loop global money. Tokenised deposits are closed-loop institutional money.

That line between the two is already starting to blur. Stablecoin issuers are moving in a more bank-like direction for capital efficiency, while banks are becoming more blockchain-native to improve settlement speed. Pal ties this directly into his broader macro view. The infrastructure being built now supports far more than just trading, as it also facilitates collateral movement, balance-sheet settlement, and automated finance at scale.

The Bottom Line: Blockchain is Becoming Part of the Financial Bedrock

Speculative enthusiasm isn’t writing the blockchain’s next chapter. Instead, law, liquidity, payments infrastructure, and enterprise computing are shaping it. The passage of GENIUS and CLARITY brings stablecoins and digital assets decisively into the realm of regulated finance. Tokenised bank deposits anchor blockchain inside traditional balance sheets. Stablecoins establish a 24/7 global standard for settlement.

Above all, Pal sees the transformation as irreversible. The assets that once lived at the edge of finance are becoming embedded inside its core layers. His warning to investors reflects that maturity: hold significant crypto assets like Bitcoin and Ether, avoid leverage, and limit speculation. Pal added, “If my thesis is right, 2026 will be one of the biggest liquidity cycles we’ve ever seen. Just don’t mess it up.”