Blockchain Technology Reshapes Traditional Financial Intermediaries

The crypto industry's promise of decentralization is facing a reversal. According to recent trends, blockchain technology is not eliminating traditional financial intermediaries like banks and brokerages but instead reshaping their roles. Stablecoins are shifting from being purely crypto tools to financial infrastructure, with trust factors moving from code and technology to issuer governance, reserve management, and regulatory compliance.

Multiple countries are advancing stablecoin regulatory frameworks, making issuing institutions new centers of trust. This trend is evident in the real-world asset tokenization (RWA) market, which is expanding rapidly but driven mainly by traditional financial giants such as BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, JPMorgan, and WisdomTree.

The total value of on-chain tokenized real-world assets has now exceeded $3.6 billion. The entry of institutional investors into the crypto market is also increasingly dependent on intermediaries. Large amounts of capital are gaining exposure to crypto assets through Bitcoin spot ETFs, regulated custodians, and other channels rather than directly holding private keys.