How far is the road to mass adoption of Crypto Assets?

The widespread adoption of new technologies often takes a long time. For example, in the United States, it took 78 years for cars to reach a 92% penetration rate, 48 years for electricity in homes to achieve full coverage, and 26 years for the internet to reach an 88% penetration rate.

Although the popularity of these technologies is gradually accelerating, why have concepts like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and blockchain as well as Crypto Assets successfully penetrated global public awareness, yet most people still have not truly used Crypto Assets services? The main reasons may include the following five aspects:

1. The channels for institutional capital entry are restricted.
2. The entry channels for ordinary users are not smooth.
3. Lack of investment targets that meet popular taste
4. Most developers find it difficult to enter the industry
5. The infrastructure cannot support large-scale applications.

However, it is encouraging that there are some positive signals emerging in the current bear market that could facilitate the faster mass adoption of Crypto Assets.

1. Bitcoin Spot ETF: The Traditional Capital Entry Channel is About to Open

Although the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently extended the review period for certain institutional Bitcoin spot ETF applications, the industry generally holds an optimistic outlook on their approval prospects. Industry insiders predict that the Bitcoin spot ETF may be approved within the next 4 to 6 months.

The listing of Bitcoin spot ETFs will greatly simplify the process of investing in Bitcoin. The U.S. stock market is predominantly institutionally driven, with institutional investors such as mutual funds accounting for 55% of the total. Therefore, the launch of Bitcoin spot ETFs is not only likely to attract potential investors from the mainstream stock market, but more importantly, it facilitates the entry of large-scale institutional funds.

Analysts estimate that the launch of a Bitcoin spot ETF could bring about $30 billion in new demand. This will inject strong momentum into the Crypto Assets market.

2. A major payment giant launches a US dollar stablecoin: opening the door for ordinary users to enter.

A globally renowned mobile payment company covering 202 countries and regions, supporting 24 currencies, and having over 400 million monthly active users recently launched a USD stablecoin for transfers and payments on the Ethereum network. This marks the first full embrace of digital currency payment transfers by a large fintech company.

The stablecoin is backed by 100% USD deposits, short-term US Treasury bonds, and similar cash equivalents. Users can use this stablecoin for peer-to-peer payments, merchant payments, and exchanging with other Crypto Assets.

The company's goal is to become a bridge between fiat currency and Web3, promoting the mainstream adoption of stablecoin payment systems. With its large user base, it is expected to bring tens of millions of new users into the Crypto Assets space.

3. The RWA Boom: The Link Between Traditional Institutions and the Crypto World

In the past six months, Real World Assets (RWA) have become a hot topic in the market. Supporters believe that RWA will introduce real-world assets and revenues, significantly increasing the scale of Crypto Assets. Although there are still some challenges in the tokenization and settlement of off-chain RWA, some innovative solutions have already emerged.

Opponents argue that most RWA projects still rely on centralized "compliance" and "auditing," which cannot fully achieve trustlessness and do not align with the core philosophy of Crypto Assets.

Despite the controversies, RWA may still become an important entry point for traditional institutions to participate in building the Crypto Assets ecosystem. As traditional institutions show various signs of entering the Crypto Assets field, we should not completely overlook the potential of RWA.

4. Blockchain Supporting Multiple Programming Languages: Attracting Web2 Developers

Currently, the Crypto Assets industry is experiencing two trends in programming languages: one is the exploration of new languages suitable for specific application scenarios, such as the Cairo language for zero-knowledge applications and the Move language focusing on formal verification; the other is the development of blockchain platforms that support multiple programming languages to attract more Web2 developers.

Considering that there are only a few hundred thousand Web3 developers while the number of Web2 developers exceeds ten million, blockchain platforms that support multiple programming languages are expected to attract a large number of Web2 developers, thereby creating a more prosperous ecosystem.

5. Infrastructure is gradually improving, and large-scale applications are just around the corner.

In 2017, the founder of Ethereum stated that technological barriers are the most important factors hindering the mass adoption of blockchain, especially scalability issues.

Today, the Ethereum ecosystem has developed a thriving matrix of Layer 2 scaling solutions, including several well-known projects, which offer significant improvements in performance compared to the Ethereum mainnet.

In addition, the modular blockchain field is also experiencing rapid development. Multiple projects are expected to support large-scale blockchain applications in their respective areas.

Overall, compared to previous cycles, the current development of Crypto Assets infrastructure has made significant progress, creating favorable conditions for the birth of large-scale blockchain applications.