a16z Deep Dive: The Blockchain Transformation Path for Banks, Asset Managers, and Fintech Companies
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a16z Deep Dive: The Blockchain Transformation Path for Banks, Asset Managers, and Fintech Companies
New markets, new users, new revenue: blockchain safeguards the future development of traditional financial institutions.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthors: Pyrs Carvolth & Maggie Hsu & Guy Wuollet
Translation: TechFlow
Blockchain is a new settlement and ownership layer—programmable, open, and inherently global—that enables novel forms of entrepreneurship, creativity, and infrastructure. The growth trajectory of monthly active crypto addresses broadly mirrors the internet’s path to one billion users. Stablecoin transaction volumes have already surpassed those of traditional fiat currencies, regulatory frameworks are catching up, and crypto-native companies are being acquired or going public.
The convergence of regulatory clarity, competitive pressure, measurable business impact, and maturing technology is compelling traditional finance (TradFi) to adopt blockchain as core infrastructure. Financial institutions are re-evaluating blockchain not as speculative tech but as a transparent, secure mechanism for value transfer—one that future-proofs their operations while unlocking new sources of growth.
Executive teams are now asking a new question: not “if” or “when,” but “how now” can blockchain deliver tangible business outcomes? This shift is driving waves of exploration, resource allocation, and organizational restructuring. As institutions begin making real commitments in this space, two critical themes emerge:
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A business case for blockchain-driven strategy
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The technical foundation to execute it
This guide aims to help answer these questions. It is not an exhaustive survey of all blockchain use cases or protocols, but rather a zero-to-one playbook that clarifies key early decisions, shares emerging patterns, and reframes blockchain from symbolic hype to foundational infrastructure. When applied correctly, blockchain can both future-proof and unlock new growth potential for traditional financial institutions.
Given differences among banks, asset managers, and fintech firms—including the increasingly recognized category of PayFi—in how they interact with end users, legacy system constraints, and regulatory obligations, we’ve structured the following content to provide leaders across these industries with actionable, practical understanding of blockchain applications and support their journey from concept to product.
Banks
Banks may appear modernized, yet still run on ancient software systems—primarily COBOL, a programming language from the 1960s. Despite its age, it underpins systems compliant with banking regulations. When customers click sleek websites or use mobile apps, these frontends simply translate actions into instructions for decades-old COBOL programs. Blockchain offers a way to upgrade these systems without compromising regulatory integrity.
By integrating blockchain technology, banks can move beyond the “bookstore with a website” model of the internet era toward something akin to Amazon: leveraging modern databases and superior interoperability standards. Tokenization of assets—whether stablecoins, deposits, or securities—is likely to play a central role in future capital markets. To avoid obsolescence during this transformation, adopting the right systems is just the first step. Banks must actively lead and own this change.
On the retail side, banks are exploring ways to provide customer access to crypto assets—for example, offering Bitcoin and other digital assets through affiliated broker-dealers as part of a broader client experience. This access may be indirect via exchange-traded products (ETPs), or eventually direct, especially as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rescinds accounting rule SAB 121, which previously prevented U.S. banks from participating in digital asset custody. However, greater potential lies on the institutional and back-end side, primarily in three emerging use cases: tokenized deposits, re-evaluation of settlement infrastructure, and collateral liquidity.
Use Cases
Tokenized deposits represent a fundamental shift in how commercial bank money operates. This is not speculative—tokenized deposits are already live, such as JPMorgan’s JPMD token and Citigroup’s Cash Token Services project. These tokens are not synthetic stablecoins or Treasury-backed digital assets, but are backed by real fiat currency held in commercial bank accounts, issued as regulated tokens at a 1:1 ratio, and tradable on private or public blockchains.
Tokenized deposits can reduce settlement delays from days to minutes or seconds, applicable to cross-border payments, treasury management, trade finance, and more. Banks can thereby lower operational costs, reduce reconciliation efforts, and improve capital efficiency.
Additionally, banks are actively re-evaluating settlement infrastructure. Several tier-one banks are participating in distributed ledger settlement trials, often in collaboration with central banks or crypto-native firms, to address inefficiencies in the “T+2” system. For instance, zkSync (an Ethereum Layer 2 solution optimizing performance by processing transactions off-chain), operated by Matter Labs, is working with global banks to demonstrate near-instant settlement for cross-border payments and intraday repo markets. These initiatives yield commercial benefits including improved capital efficiency, optimized liquidity usage, and reduced operating costs.
Blockchain and tokens also enhance a bank’s ability to quickly and efficiently move assets across business units, geographies, and counterparties—a capability known as "collateral liquidity." The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) recently launched its Smart NAV pilot, aiming to modernize collateral liquidity via tokenized net asset value (NAV) data. The pilot demonstrates how collateral can function like liquid, programmable money—not just an operational upgrade, but a strategic innovation supporting broader goals. Enhanced collateral liquidity allows banks to reduce capital buffers, access larger liquidity pools, and compete more effectively in capital markets with leaner balance sheets.
Across all these use cases—tokenized deposits, settlement infrastructure re-evaluation, and collateral liquidity—banks face a critical decision: whether to use private or public blockchain networks.
Choosing a Blockchain
Historically, banks were barred from engaging with public chains, but recent guidance from regulators such as the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has eased restrictions, expanding the possibilities for blockchain adoption. For example, R3 Corda’s integration with Solana marks a landmark development, enabling Corda’s permissioned network to settle assets directly on Solana.
Taking tokenized deposits as a use case, we’ll explore early product decisions—from blockchain selection to degree of decentralization. While there are many frameworks for choosing blockchains, building on decentralized public chains offers several advantages:
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Neutral developer platform: Provides an open environment where anyone can contribute, increasing trust and expanding the ecosystem supporting the product.
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Accelerated product iteration: Open participation enables faster innovation through reuse, modification, and combination of existing components (modular composability).
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Enhanced platform trust: Top developers prefer decentralized blockchains because these platforms do not unilaterally change rules or censor applications, ensuring long-term viability of their products.
In contrast, centralized public chains risk losing developer trust due to sudden policy changes or application censorship, while non-programmable blockchains forfeit the benefits of composability.
While current blockchain speeds remain slower than centralized internet services, performance has improved significantly over recent years. Ethereum L2 rollups (various off-chain scaling solutions), such as Coinbase’s Base, along with high-speed Layer 1 blockchains like Aptos, Solana, and Sui, now achieve sub-cent transaction fees and latency under one second.
Considering Degree of Decentralization
When selecting a blockchain, banks must weigh the appropriate level of decentralization based on specific use cases. The Ethereum protocol and community prioritize the ability for anyone globally to independently verify every transaction on-chain. Solana, by raising hardware requirements for validators, relaxes this constraint to achieve higher throughput.
Even within public chains, banks must carefully assess the extent of centralized influence. For example, if a network has relatively few validators and its foundation controls a large share, the chain may be more centralized than it appears. Similarly, entities associated with a public network—such as foundations or labs—holding significant token supplies could use them to influence or control network decisions.
Privacy Considerations
Privacy and confidentiality are paramount in any banking-related transaction, partly due to legal requirements. The rise of zero-knowledge proofs enables protection of sensitive financial data even on public chains. These systems allow institutions to prove possession of necessary information without revealing details—for instance, proving someone is over 21 without disclosing birth date or place.
Zero-knowledge-based protocols (e.g., zkSync) enable private on-chain transactions while meeting regulatory compliance needs. Banks need mechanisms to view and potentially reverse transactions when required. Here, "viewing keys" (developed by Aleo, a privacy-focused L1 key) allow regulators and auditors access to transactions while preserving privacy.
Solana’s token extensions offer flexible compliance features enhancing privacy capabilities. Avalanche’s Layer 1 includes a unique feature enabling enforcement of validation logic encoded in smart contracts.
These privacy tools also apply to stablecoins, one of today’s most popular blockchain applications and already among the cheapest ways to send a dollar globally. Beyond cost reduction, they offer permissionless programmability and scalability—enabling anyone to integrate fast, global money into products while building new fintech functionality. Following the passage of the GENIUS Act, banks face higher transparency expectations regarding stablecoin reserves and transactions. Companies like Bastion and Anchorage are providing reserve and transaction transparency solutions to help banks meet these requirements.
Custody Strategy Decisions
When developing a custody strategy (i.e., who manages and stores crypto assets), most banks prefer partnering with custody providers rather than self-custody. Some custodial banks, like State Street, are actively exploring launching native crypto custody services.
If partnering with a provider, banks should evaluate: licenses and certifications, security, and operational practices.
Licenses and Certifications: Custodians must comply with strict regulatory frameworks such as federal or state banking/trust charters, virtual currency business licenses, state money transmitter licenses, and compliance certifications like SOC 2. For example, Coinbase operates its custody business under a New York trust charter; Fidelity Digital Asset Services provides custody for Fidelity; Anchorage operates under a federal OCC charter.
Security: Providers must employ strong cryptographic techniques, hardware security modules (HSMs) to prevent unauthorized access or tampering, and multi-party computation (MPC), which splits private keys across multiple parties to enhance security—effectively mitigating hacking risks and operational failures.
Operational Practices: Best practices include asset segregation to protect clients from insolvency risks, transparent proof-of-reserves to verify matching of reserves and liabilities, and regular third-party audits to detect fraud, errors, or vulnerabilities. For instance, Anchorage uses biometric multi-factor authentication and geographically distributed key shards to strengthen governance. Providers should also have clear disaster recovery plans to ensure business continuity.
What role do wallets play in custody decisions? Banks increasingly recognize that integrating crypto wallets is a strategic necessity for competitiveness, especially against neobanks and centralized exchanges offering auxiliary services. For institutional clients (e.g., hedge funds, asset managers, corporations), wallets serve as enterprise-grade tools for holding, trading, and settling. For retail users (e.g., small businesses or individuals), wallets act as embedded features enabling access to digital assets. In both cases, wallets are not mere storage—they are essential tools for compliant, secure access to assets (like stablecoins or tokenized instruments) via private keys.
“Custodial wallets” and “self-custody wallets” represent opposite ends of control, security, and responsibility. Custodial wallets are managed by third parties who hold users’ private keys; self-custody wallets require users to manage their own keys. This distinction is crucial for banks serving diverse needs—from institutional demands for compliance, to advanced users seeking autonomy, to mainstream consumers prioritizing ease of use. Custody providers like Coinbase and Anchorage offer integrated wallet solutions tailored for institutions, while companies like Dynamic and Phantom help banks upgrade their apps with modern wallet functionalities.
Asset Management Firms
For asset managers, blockchain technology enables expanded product distribution, automated fund operations, and unlocked on-chain liquidity.
Tokenized funds and real-world assets (RWA) offer new formats for asset management products, making them easier to access and combine—especially meeting growing global investor demand for 24/7 access, instant settlement, and programmable transactions. Meanwhile, on-chain trails significantly streamline back-office workflows, from NAV calculation to cap table management. Ultimately, these innovations yield lower costs, faster time-to-market, and more differentiated offerings—advantages that compound in competitive markets.
Asset managers are focusing on improving product distribution and liquidity, particularly targeting digitally native capital. By listing tokenized share classes on public blockchains, they can reach entirely new investor bases without sacrificing recordkeeping functions of traditional transfer agents. This hybrid model maintains regulatory compliance while leveraging blockchain’s unique new markets, features, and capabilities.
Blockchain Innovation Trends
Tokenized U.S. Treasuries and money market funds have grown from near-zero to managing tens of billions in AUM, including BlackRock’s BUIDL (BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund) and Franklin Templeton’s BENJI (representing shares in Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund). These instruments resemble yield-bearing stablecoins but with institutional-grade compliance and underlying assets.
Through blockchain, asset managers meet digital-native investors’ needs with greater flexibility—such as automated portfolio rebalancing or layered yield structures enabled by fractionalization and programmability.
On-chain distribution platforms are maturing rapidly. Asset managers are partnering with blockchain-native issuers and custodians—including Anchorage, Coinbase, Fireblocks, and Securitize—to tokenize fund shares, automate investor onboarding, and expand global reach and investor categories.
On-chain transfer agents use smart contract-native features to manage KYC/AML, investor whitelists, transfer restrictions, and cap tables—reducing legal and operational overhead in fund structures.
Leading custodians ensure secure, transferable, and compliant custody of tokenized fund shares—expanding distribution options while meeting internal risk and audit standards.
Issuers aim to position their funds as foundational assets in decentralized finance (DeFi) and tap into on-chain liquidity to expand total addressable market (TAM) and grow AUM. By listing tokenized funds on protocols like Morpho Blue or integrating with Uniswap v4, asset managers gain access to new liquidity. In mid-2024, BlackRock’s BUIDL became the first yield-generating collateral option on Morpho Blue, marking the first composable integration of a traditional asset management product into DeFi. More recently, Apollo’s tokenized private credit fund (ACRED) was integrated into Morpho Blue, enabling a novel yield-enhancement strategy impossible off-chain.
The ultimate outcome of DeFi collaboration is a shift from expensive, slow fund distribution models to direct wallet access—creating new yield opportunities and capital efficiency for investors.
When issuing tokenized real-world assets (RWA), asset managers have largely moved past the debate between permissioned vs. public chains. Instead, they clearly favor public, multi-chain strategies to maximize product distribution.
For example, Franklin Templeton’s tokenized money market fund (represented by BENJI tokens) is deployed across Aptos, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Base, Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, and Stellar. Partnering with major public chains enhances liquidity through ecosystem participants such as centralized exchanges, market makers, and DeFi protocols. Companies like LayerZero further support these multi-chain strategies by enabling seamless cross-chain connectivity and settlement.
Tokenized Real-World Assets (RWA)
We observe rising momentum in tokenizing financial assets—such as government and corporate securities and equities—over physical assets like real estate or gold (though these too can be tokenized and have precedents).
Within the context of tokenizing traditional funds—such as money market funds backed by U.S. Treasuries or similar stable assets—the distinction between “wrapped tokens” and “native tokens” is particularly important. This distinction centers on how ownership is represented, where primary records are stored, and the depth of blockchain integration. Both models advance tokenization by linking traditional assets to blockchain, but wrapped tokens prioritize compatibility with legacy systems, while native tokens pursue full on-chain transformation. Below are two illustrative examples.
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BUIDL is a wrapped token that digitizes shares in a traditional money market fund investing in cash, U.S. Treasuries, and repos. Its ERC-20 form circulates on-chain, but the underlying fund continues operating off-chain as a regulated entity under U.S. securities law. Ownership is restricted to whitelisted qualified institutional investors, with minting and redemption managed by Securitize and custodian BNY Mellon.
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BENJI is a native token representing shares in Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX), a $750 million fund invested in U.S. government securities. Under BENJI’s framework, the blockchain serves as the official recordkeeper for transactions and ownership—making it a native rather than wrapped token. Investors can subscribe via the Benji Investments app or institutional portal using USDC, and tokens support direct peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers on-chain.
When issuing tokenized funds, asset managers typically require a digital transfer agent to adapt traditional transfer agent functions to blockchain environments. Many institutions partner with Securitize, which helps tokenize fund issuance and transfers while ensuring accurate, compliant recordkeeping. These digital transfer agents not only increase efficiency via smart contracts but also unlock new possibilities for traditional assets. For example, Apollo’s ACRED is a wrapped token granting access to an off-chain diversified credit fund, with lending and yield strategies optimized through DeFi integration. In this process, Securitize helped create sACRED (an ERC-4626 compliant version of ACRED), allowing investors to implement leveraged looping strategies via Morpho, a decentralized lending protocol.
Compared to wrapped tokens requiring hybrid systems to coordinate on-chain activity with off-chain records, native tokens enable deeper innovation through on-chain transfer agents. Franklin Templeton worked closely with regulators to develop a proprietary on-chain transfer agent, enabling BENJI’s instant settlement and 24/7 transfers. Similar cases include Superstate’s Opening Bell on Solana, whose internal on-chain transfer agent also supports round-the-clock transfers.
Where does the wallet fit in? Asset managers must not treat wallets—the tool clients use to access their products—as secondary. Even if issuance and distribution are “outsourced” to transfer agents and custodians, asset managers must carefully select and integrate wallets. These decisions affect everything from investor adoption to regulatory compliance.
Many asset managers adopt “wallet-as-a-service” (WaaS) solutions to generate wallets for investors. These are typically custodial, with providers automatically enforcing KYC and transfer agent restrictions. However, even if the transfer agent “owns” the wallet, asset managers must embed relevant APIs into their investor portals and choose SDKs and compliance modules aligned with their product roadmap.
Other key considerations for tokenized funds involve fund operations. Managers must determine the level of automation in NAV calculation—whether using smart contracts for intraday transparency or relying on off-chain audits for final daily NAVs. Such decisions depend on token type, underlying assets, and specific fund compliance requirements. Redemption mechanisms are another key factor: tokenized funds can offer faster exits than traditional systems but require built-in limits to manage liquidity. In these cases, asset managers often rely on transfer agents for guidance or integration with key service providers like oracles, wallets, and custodians.
Additionally, custody decisions must consider the custodian’s regulatory standing. Under SEC custody rules, qualified custodians must be properly licensed and obligated to safeguard client assets.
Fintech Companies
Fintech firms—especially those focused on payments and consumer finance (“PayFi”)—are using blockchain to build faster, lower-cost, globally scalable services. In highly competitive markets where innovation speed is critical, blockchain offers ready-made infrastructure for identity, payments, credit, and custody—with fewer intermediaries.
These fintechs aren’t replicating existing systems—they’re leapfrogging them. This makes blockchain especially attractive for cross-border applications, embedded finance, and programmable money. For example, Revolut’s virtual card lets users spend crypto in daily life; Stripe’s stablecoin financial accounts allow businesses to hold balances in stablecoins across 101 countries.
For these companies, blockchain isn’t just about infrastructure upgrades or efficiency gains—it’s about building entirely new services that were previously impossible.
Tokenization enables fintechs to embed real-time, 24/7 global payments directly on-chain, unlocking new fee-based services around issuance, redemption, and cash flow. Programmable tokens support native features like staking, lending, and liquidity provision, integrated directly into apps to boost engagement and diversify revenue. All of this helps retain existing users and attract new ones in an increasingly digital world.
Stablecoins, tokenization, and verticalization are becoming defining industry trends.
Three Key Trends
Stablecoin payment integration is transforming payment rails by enabling 24/7/365 real-time settlement—breaking free from traditional networks constrained by banking hours, batch processing, and jurisdictional limits. By bypassing traditional card networks and intermediaries, stablecoin rails drastically reduce transaction, FX, and processing fees—especially in P2P and B2B contexts.
Smart contracts allow enterprises to embed conditions, refunds, royalties, and installment payments directly into transactions, opening new monetization models. This could transform companies like Stripe and PayPal from banking aggregators into platform-native, programmable cash issuers and processors.
Global remittances continue to suffer from high fees, long delays, and opaque FX spreads. Fintechs are redefining cross-border flows using blockchain settlement. With stablecoins like USDC on Solana or Ethereum, or USDT on Bitcoin, companies can drastically cut remittance costs and settlement times. For example, Revolut and Nubank have partnered with Lightspark to enable real-time cross-border payments over Bitcoin’s Lightning Network.
By storing value in wallets and tokenized assets instead of bank channels, fintechs gain greater control and speed—especially in regions with unreliable banking systems. For companies like Revolut and Robinhood, this transition turns them into global capital movement platforms, not just shells of digital banks or trading apps. For global payroll providers like Deel and Papaya Global, offering employee pay in crypto or stablecoins is gaining popularity due to instant settlement.
Crypto-native fintechs are moving down the stack, launching their own blockchains (L1 or L2) or acquiring companies to reduce reliance on third parties. Examples include Coinbase’s Base, Kraken’s Ink, and Uniswap’s Unichain—all built on OP Stack. This strategy resembles shifting from building apps on Apple iOS to owning the entire mobile OS, capturing massive platform-level advantages.
By launching their own L2, fintechs like Stripe, SoFi, or PayPal can capture value at the protocol layer to complement their front-end products. Proprietary chains offer customizable performance, whitelisting, KYC modules—critical for regulated applications and enterprise clients.
Using OP Stack—a modular, open-source software framework—on Optimism (an Ethereum L2), to launch a dedicated “payments” blockchain, fintechs can evolve from closed ecosystems into open, diversified markets for financial innovation. This attracts other developers and businesses, generating revenue through network effects.
Many fintechs start by offering basic crypto services—buying, selling, sending, receiving, and holding small amounts of tokens—then expand into yield and lending. SoFi recently announced plans to relaunch crypto trading after exiting in 2023 due to regulatory constraints. One advantage is enabling SoFi’s customers to participate in global remittances, but greater potential lies in combining its core lending business with on-chain lending (similar to Morpho’s collaboration with Coinbase on Bitcoin-collateralized loans) to optimize terms and transparency.
Building Dedicated Blockchains
An increasing number of crypto-native “fintechs”—including Coinbase, Uniswap, and World—are building dedicated blockchains to customize infrastructure for specific products and users, reducing costs, enhancing decentralization, and capturing more value within their ecosystems. For example, Uniswap’s Unichain integrates liquidity and reduces fragmentation, making DeFi faster and more efficient. Similar vertical integration strategies apply to fintechs like Robinhood, which recently announced an L2 plan aimed at improving user experience and internalizing value. For payment firms, dedicated chains might focus on UX—abstracting or hiding crypto-native operations while optimizing for stablecoin use and compliance features.
Building dedicated blockchains involves different levels of complexity and trade-offs. Below are key considerations.
L1s are the heaviest lift, most complex to build, and benefit least from any partnership. Yet, they give fintechs maximum control over scalability, privacy, and user experience. For instance, a company like Stripe could embed native privacy features to meet global regulations or design ultra-low-latency consensus for high-frequency merchant payments.
One core challenge in launching a new L1 is bootstrapping economic security—securing sufficient staked capital to protect the network. EigenLayer democratizes access to high-quality security by shifting from isolated, capital-intensive L1 models to shared, efficient ones—accelerating blockchain innovation while reducing failure rates.
L2s are often an excellent compromise—offering fintechs partial control via a single sequencer while speeding up development. The sequencer collects user transactions, determines processing order, and submits them to the L1 for final verification and storage. A single sequencer design ensures reliability and fast performance, captures more revenue, and simplifies operations. Moreover, through Ethereum’s Rollup-as-a-Service (RaaS) providers or by joining established L2 coalitions like Optimism Superchain, fintechs can leverage shared infrastructure, standardized resources, and community support to launch their own L2 quickly.
For example, PayPal could build a “payments superchain” on OP Stack, optimizing its PYUSD stablecoin for real-time use cases like Venmo P2P transfers. It could also enable seamless cross-chain bridging of PYUSD within the Optimism Superchain ecosystem, initially using a centralized sequencer to offer predictable low fees (e.g., under $0.01 per transaction) while inheriting Ethereum’s security. Partnering with RaaS providers like Alchemy and its partner Syndicate, PayPal could shorten deployment from months or years to weeks.
The simplest approach is deploying smart contracts on existing blockchains—a strategy already adopted by companies like PayPal. Blockchains like Solana, with mature scale, broad user bases, and unique assets, are especially attractive for fintechs seeking rapid entry into L1 ecosystems.
Open vs. Closed
How open should a fintech’s application or blockchain be? A core advantage of blockchain is composability—the ability to combine and remix protocols to create ecosystems whose total value exceeds the sum of parts.
If an app or blockchain is closed, composability is limited, reducing the potential for innovative applications. For PayPal, choosing to build a permissionless chain aligns with the fintech trend toward open ecosystems and helps monetize its competitive moat. Global developers leveraging PayPal’s compliance layer can attract more users, increasing network activity and creating more value for PayPal.
Unlike L1 blockchains (e.g., Ethereum), L2s delegate much of the work to a sequencer, achieving higher throughput while retaining the L1’s security properties. As noted, single-sequence rollups (e.g., Soneium) offer a balanced path—allowing operators to influence transaction latency and impose selective restrictions, striking a balance between openness and control.
Building on modular frameworks like OP Stack not only drives additional revenue but expands core product utility. Take PayPal and its PYUSD stablecoin: owning a dedicated L2 brings not only sequencer revenue but tightly couples the chain’s economic model with PYUSD. As initial sequencer operator, PayPal can earn a portion of transaction fees (“gas fees”), similar to how Coinbase earns from Base, its OP Stack L2. By modifying OP Stack to accept PYUSD for gas payments, PayPal can offer “free” transactions (e.g., withdrawals) to existing users and speed up use cases like Venmo transfers and cross-border remittances. PayPal could also incentivize developer activity with low or zero-cost fees while charging modest premiums on integrated services like PayPal Wallet API or compliance oracles.
Facing the fast-evolving crypto landscape, banks, asset managers, and fintechs often ask: How should they understand this technology and its opportunities? Here are our core recommendations:
Start with customer segmentation to tailor solutions. Needs vary—institutional clients require compliant, custodial setups, while retail users prioritize convenience and self-custody options for daily use.
Treat security and compliance as non-negotiable. Almost all counterparties—regulators and customers alike—have clear expectations around security and compliance.
Accelerate deployment and innovation through partnerships. You don’t need to build everything in-house. Collaborating with specialists shortens time-to-market and unlocks new revenue streams through innovative solutions.
Blockchain can not only become core infrastructure for traditional financial institutions but also help them enter new markets, attract new users, and uncover new revenue sources—future-proofing their growth.
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