Regulatory Tailwinds, Institutional Adoption, and the Next Era of Crypto Infrastructure

At Rosenblatt’s 17th Annual FinTech Summit, zerohash Founder & CEO Edward Woodford joined leaders from Securitize and Digital Asset for a wide-ranging conversation about the accelerating institutional momentum behind digital assets. The panel explored what changed in 2025, how regulation has reshaped market appetite, and where tokenization, stablecoins, and interoperability fit into the future of finance. 

For zerohash, the conversation echoed what we’re seeing across our network: the industry has decisively shifted from if to when. Financial institutions are moving fast, backed by clearer regulatory frameworks and real demand from customers who increasingly expect crypto, stablecoin, and tokenization capabilities from the platforms they already trust. 

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Here are some of the major themes covered:

A New Regulatory Environment Is Fueling Institutional Momentum 

The last 12 to 18 months marked a defining shift in U.S. and global digital asset policy. Edward highlighted three forms of regulatory pressure that previously constrained the industry—and how all three meaningfully reversed this year: 

• “Regulation by enforcement” 
• “Regulation by implication,” where banks and other financial institutions received informal warnings about entering the space
• “Rulemaking constraints,” such as legacy interpretations of custody requirements 

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Those headwinds have now been rolled back, culminating in new legislation such as the GENIUS Act. That clarity has opened the door for banks, payment companies, and asset managers who previously hesitated to build. “Really what has shifted is the desire to make us the hub of innovation… walking back the frameworks of the government’s ability to regulate in the space,” he said. Across Europe, MiCAR is also accelerating institutional adoption by giving companies a single passported framework. zerohash received MiCAR authorization in November 2025.

Stablecoins Are Becoming the Distribution Layer for Crypto

Stablecoins have evolved into one of the most powerful distribution vectors in the sector. Consumers no longer need to be “crypto-native” to gain exposure, as digital dollars now sit inside products millions already use. “Pretty much anyone… has access to a stablecoin whether they know it or not: if you have a PayPal account, a Cash App account. That is game-changing in terms of the distribution of the technology,” Woodford said. 

With this, two unlocks are still needed for mainstream scale: 

• Interoperability across chains and issuers 
• Usability, especially eliminating address-level complexity and chain selection 

Both are central to zerohash’s product strategy, including new onchain authorization and abstracted stablecoin flows.

“We’re going to live in a multi-stablecoin world. The importance of $1 being $1 across issuers is critical … that ultimately has to come at the Fed level. Whether a CBDC happens or not, we’re focused on interoperability—that’s why we’ve secured an OCC-chartered bank and are positioning around Fed master accounts,” Woodford added.

Tokenization Is Real & It Requires the Right Infrastructure

Tokenization dominated the latter half of the panel. We view the market through three converging pillars—trade, transact, and tokenize—and each informs our approach. Tokenized dollars and tokenized assets must coexist, and institutions will increasingly rely on infrastructure providers to standardize minting, burning, and life-cycle management across multiple chains. “Tokenization is an incredible unlock… fundamentally rewriting the way that value moves globally,” Woodford said.

On the Future of Crypto & Wealth

“Where we’re seeing velocity is private wealth. Customers want crypto. They already have crypto, and they want to do it where they do everything else. Early next year, Morgan Stanley will enable crypto through zerohash. You’ll open an E*TRADE account, but the experience is seamless. If you have a million dollars, you can buy a million dollars of Apple or a million dollars of Bitcoin. We’re very clear that in the next 12 months, every bank that has a private wealth arm will offer crypto.”

Read zerohash’s new report: Crypto & the Future of Wealth.

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