For decades, banks have been the central authority in finance, but today technology is seriously challenging that role. Crypto is no longer merely an investment asset; it is developing into a new infrastructure for moving money, making payments, and managing assets globally.
As major financial institutions begin to accept crypto and institutional market share grows from under 1% to nearly 20% in just ten years, ...signs of a global financial system transition are becoming increasingly clear.
Thairath Money spoke with Richard Teng, Co-CEO of Binance, a digital asset trading platform with over 300 million users worldwide, during Binance Blockchain Week 2025 in Dubai, UAE, about his vision for the future of the global financial system and why he believes that within the next three years, crypto will no longer be just an “alternative” but will become an integral part of people’s financial lives.
I strongly agree. Looking at developments in 2024 and 2025, we see many institutions adopting crypto, which is truly becoming mainstream.
Crypto has shifted from a niche asset to mainstream, with a strong adoption curve—not just the approval of ETFs last year but also institutions and organizations worldwide beginning to allocate assets.
When institutions like BlackRock, JP Morgan, and Charles Schwab accept crypto and recognize how this technology surpasses current financial infrastructures, a major acceptance curve is imminent.
It results from a combination of factors. First, Binance always focuses on user needs by building the best platform, with top features, highest security, and strict regulatory compliance.
Second, important use cases such as stablecoins, crypto payments, and asset tokenization continue to drive adoption.
Another key factor is regulatory clarity, especially from the U.S., which has shifted from opposing crypto to aiming to be the crypto capital of the world. This major change has prompted many countries to adjust their positions to maintain competitive advantages.
Finally, institutional acceptance is growing, with institutional registrations on our platform doubling last year and expected to rise further this year.
Focusing solely on institutional investors, this market was less than 1% ten years ago and now accounts for nearly 20%.
This growth will continue as more countries worldwide accept crypto and regulatory clarity builds confidence among users in this sector.
For users, it means more choices, greater convenience, and significantly lower costs.
There are three main use cases advancing rapidly.
Stablecoins, Cross-border transfers via traditional banking take 2-3 days and are costly, but stablecoins enable near-instant receipt of funds at a fraction of the cost.
This allows companies to move capital quickly for global operations without being limited by banking hours. Stablecoin usage tripled this year, with market value increasing 50%.
Crypto payments, Merchant acceptance is rapidly expanding, with over 21 million merchants worldwide now accepting payments via Binance Pay, a remarkable increase from just 12,000 earlier this year.
Asset tokenization, Institutional asset tokenization allows users to easily convert or sell positions 24/7, all on the network.
Asset tokenization is definitely happening. However, it’s important to understand that tokenization does not bring new liquidity to the asset but greatly enhances efficiency through blockchain and smart contracts.
Considering current bank communications and back-office operations—reconciliation, accounting, clearing, and settlement—blockchain technology can eliminate all these tasks.
Therefore, tokenization helps institutions save significant costs and facilitates investment and withdrawal for users, as they can buy, sell, and swap assets quickly on the same token platform.
Like all assets, crypto goes through market cycles and volatility. Although some predict a super cycle this time, no one can forecast the future, and the historical four-year cycles may still persist.
Our focus is to "weatherproof" the organization to remain strong through all cycles. Bear markets are the best times to invest and develop new product features to support users worldwide in their investment strategies.
The goal is to build the best-in-class platform with top features, security, and compliance to serve the next billion users.
We continue to invest heavily in compliance, currently employing nearly 1,300 compliance staff—22% of our global workforce. Compliance spending has increased over 30% annually in the past three years.
Binance is one of the most regulated platforms globally, overseen in more than 21-22 jurisdictions. Compliance is a clear direction, and we invest significantly here, which is a competitive advantage.
However, regulatory challenges vary greatly by country.
We strive to understand each user segment’s needs and offer tailored products. For institutions, we introduced various products since last year, such as Binance Wealth and Binance Prestige.
We also provide Binance Crypto as a Service to support financial institutions conducting KYB/KYC while accessing best-in-class infrastructure for back-office, compliance, security, and the deepest liquidity globally.
Every region is important. We aim to be wherever crypto adoption moves quickly and growth rates are high, such as Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, and Europe.
Asia Pacific is very large and rapidly growing. Thailand remains significant, with strong relations with Gulf Binance, a licensed digital asset operator regulated by the SEC, whose users increased sevenfold this year and trading volume grew fivefold.
In three years, no one will see crypto as isolated anymore; it will be a key part of investment portfolios. People will discuss stablecoins as part of the global financial infrastructure for money movement... crypto will become mainstream, and people will view it as part of everyday life.
The freedom to move money anywhere you want using crypto—that is Binance’s slogan: "Freedom of money."
From the interview with Richard Teng, under this vision, crypto from Binance’s perspective is not a challenge to the existing financial system but an acceleration for its transformation. The key question now is not "Will crypto survive?" but whether the global financial system can adapt quickly enough to this change.