What was once considered a fringe speculative move is quickly becoming part of the global financial plumbing, according to Binance, Revolut and Circle (CRCL) executives speaking at Consensus Miami on Wednesday.
“We were in the era of prohibition,” said Rachel Conlan, chief marketing officer at Binance. “We are now in the infrastructure phase.”
Conlan said crypto is evolving beyond commerce into everyday functional use cases and is “on its way to becoming the fabric of everyday society.”
This change is increasingly visible in the consumer credit sector. Mazen ElJundi, global head of investments at Revolut, said the crypto narrative has shifted from speculation to “real utility and scaling.”
Revolut, which operates in more than 40 countries and serves more than 75 million customers, is now integrating crypto into a wider range of banking services, including remittances and the use of stablecoins. “Crypto is banking without borders,” he said.
At Circle, Senior Vice President of Marketing Tim Queenan said institutions are increasingly looking at how to move core financial infrastructure on-chain. “Infrastructure should be boring,” he said. “What we build on it is what’s interesting.” Queenan pointed out that stablecoins have become so integrated into payments that many users no longer even consider themselves crypto users.
Panelists said institutional dynamics, from the approval of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to major asset managers putting money on-chain, are driving retail adoption globally.
But challenges remain. Conlan said the industry still needs to reduce friction and make integration easier.
Read more: Crypto ETFs go mainstream as traditional finance locks down
