"Firms striving to reach the next generation of crypto users are unlikely to design solely for on-chain natives. Instead, they will make on-chain finance equally seamless as the trusted products users already know and use."
"Firms striving to reach the next generation of crypto users are unlikely to design solely for on-chain natives. Instead, they will make on-chain finance equally seamless as the trusted products users already know and use."
"Firms striving to reach the next generation of crypto users are unlikely to design solely for on-chain natives. Instead, they will make on-chain finance equally seamless as the trusted products users already know and use."
Q. What do you think matters most in crypto right now, and what makes you say that?
Stablecoins. The importance lies not in excitement, but in their permanence. Narratives in crypto shift: ICOs, DeFi summer, NFTs. Stablecoins remain because they address a real need. Global stablecoin transaction volumes reached US$33 trillion in 2025, up 72% year-on-year. Payment volumes doubled to approximately US$390 billion annually, with Asia representing 60% of that growth, led by Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan.
What makes this moment decisive is Mastercard paying up to US$1.8 billion for stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK — the sector's largest acquisition, surpassing Stripe's US$1.1 billion Bridge deal. When a company processing trillions in annual card volume acquires stablecoin rails outright, the debate shifts from whether stablecoins will become mainstream payments infrastructure to who will control them.
From Singapore, the shift is clear. Interest in crypto exposure through regulated vehicles has increased, specifically as stablecoins have enhanced the credibility of on-ramps. Trust Equity or Trust in Stablecoins is about infrastructure, regulation, and scale.
Q. When you look at the next 2–3 years, what changes do you expect - technically, economically, or socially?
The next major development will not involve a new chain or token. It will be when users are unaware, they are utilising blockchain technology and we can see this mass market adoption already.
Account abstraction is making this real. Today, using an on-chain wallet means managing private keys, paying for gas in native tokens, and following recovery steps that no mainstream consumer would accept. Ethereum's Pectra upgrade, launched in May 2025, brought account abstraction via EIP-7702, allowing standard wallets to run smart contract logic automatically. In practice: pay fees in USDC instead of ETH, recover via social login, and batch actions into one click.
This is especially relevant in Asia, where mobile-focused financial behaviour is prevalent and leading regional super-apps set high expectations for digital products. Firms striving to reach the next generation of crypto users are unlikely to design solely for on-chain natives. Instead, they will make on-chain finance equally seamless as the trusted products users already know and use.
Q. What’s a belief you’ve changed your mind about in crypto, and what caused the shift?
A previous belief was that DeFi would fully replace TradFi. Now, a merger between the two seems both more compelling and feasible for the next phase. We see this with large M&A and even regulators encouraging a middle ground – most notably ESMA shifting away from Perps and classifying them as CFDs.
The maximalist position was justifiable in 2020, as efficiency advances were clear and disintermediation appealing. However, it overlooked the significance of institutional trust, compliance, and capital—unique assets that cannot be replicated.
The evidence changed my mind. CMC has partnered with JPMorgan's Kinexys platform to handle over US$1 billion in tokenised payments daily and expanded to the public blockchain Base in November 2025. BlackRock's BUIDL tokenised money market fund has surpassed US$2.3 billion in AUM and enabled on-chain trading via UniswapX in February 2026. These aren't experiments. They're production deployments by the world's most regulated institutions, on public chains.
This convergence involves TradFi providing compliance and capital, while crypto provides programmable settlement and continuous transaction capabilities. The leading firms for the next decade will not need to choose between these approaches.
Q. Where do you see the biggest gap between what builders are creating and what users actually need?
Builders optimise for the protocol. Users optimise for outcomes. This gap is wider than many admit.
At CMC Markets, when we build or assess financial products, whether a new financial instrument or an investment platform, adoption comes down to three questions: Can I have faith in this platform with my money? Is there someone I can call if something goes wrong? Is this actually easier than what I already use?
Crypto keeps failing the same test. The best indicator is the retention curve on most DeFi protocols. Many see impressive initial deposits, then a rapid drop-off once anything breaks. Compare that to well-run, regulated institutions, where customer support and regulatory accountability create a floor of trust.
Most users don't care about the underlying blockchain. They care that it's faster, cheaper, and more reliable than alternatives. Protocols that win mainstream adoption won't succeed by dumbing down the tech, but by wrapping it in the trust infrastructure users have always demanded.
Q. If you could redesign one part of today's crypto ecosystem from scratch, what would you change and why?
I'd fix fragmentation. Over 1,000 active blockchains are competing for liquidity, developers, and users. More than US$2 trillion in locked value is scattered across an increasingly splintered landscape. Bridging assets between chains demands technical literacy — that is, a good understanding of how different blockchains operate — that most users shouldn't need.
Even incumbents see this now. In March 2026, DTCC, Euroclear, and Clearstream published a joint white paper arguing that interoperability is essential for digital asset adoption at scale. Their message: no single ledger wins. The future is a coordinated network of networks.
The internet didn't succeed because everyone picked one network. It succeeded because TCP/IP made the complexity invisible. Crypto needs its TCP/IP moment. This will happen when the chain becomes infrastructure rather than a choice.
About Christopher
Christopher Forbes is the Head of Asia & Middle East for CMC Markets and is based in Singapore. In this role, he oversees the firm's three brands — CMC Markets, CMC Invest, and CMC Connect — throughout the regions.
Q. What do you think matters most in crypto right now, and what makes you say that?
Stablecoins. The importance lies not in excitement, but in their permanence. Narratives in crypto shift: ICOs, DeFi summer, NFTs. Stablecoins remain because they address a real need. Global stablecoin transaction volumes reached US$33 trillion in 2025, up 72% year-on-year. Payment volumes doubled to approximately US$390 billion annually, with Asia representing 60% of that growth, led by Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan.
What makes this moment decisive is Mastercard paying up to US$1.8 billion for stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK — the sector's largest acquisition, surpassing Stripe's US$1.1 billion Bridge deal. When a company processing trillions in annual card volume acquires stablecoin rails outright, the debate shifts from whether stablecoins will become mainstream payments infrastructure to who will control them.
From Singapore, the shift is clear. Interest in crypto exposure through regulated vehicles has increased, specifically as stablecoins have enhanced the credibility of on-ramps. Trust Equity or Trust in Stablecoins is about infrastructure, regulation, and scale.
Q. When you look at the next 2–3 years, what changes do you expect - technically, economically, or socially?
The next major development will not involve a new chain or token. It will be when users are unaware, they are utilising blockchain technology and we can see this mass market adoption already.
Account abstraction is making this real. Today, using an on-chain wallet means managing private keys, paying for gas in native tokens, and following recovery steps that no mainstream consumer would accept. Ethereum's Pectra upgrade, launched in May 2025, brought account abstraction via EIP-7702, allowing standard wallets to run smart contract logic automatically. In practice: pay fees in USDC instead of ETH, recover via social login, and batch actions into one click.
This is especially relevant in Asia, where mobile-focused financial behaviour is prevalent and leading regional super-apps set high expectations for digital products. Firms striving to reach the next generation of crypto users are unlikely to design solely for on-chain natives. Instead, they will make on-chain finance equally seamless as the trusted products users already know and use.
Q. What’s a belief you’ve changed your mind about in crypto, and what caused the shift?
A previous belief was that DeFi would fully replace TradFi. Now, a merger between the two seems both more compelling and feasible for the next phase. We see this with large M&A and even regulators encouraging a middle ground – most notably ESMA shifting away from Perps and classifying them as CFDs.
The maximalist position was justifiable in 2020, as efficiency advances were clear and disintermediation appealing. However, it overlooked the significance of institutional trust, compliance, and capital—unique assets that cannot be replicated.
The evidence changed my mind. CMC has partnered with JPMorgan's Kinexys platform to handle over US$1 billion in tokenised payments daily and expanded to the public blockchain Base in November 2025. BlackRock's BUIDL tokenised money market fund has surpassed US$2.3 billion in AUM and enabled on-chain trading via UniswapX in February 2026. These aren't experiments. They're production deployments by the world's most regulated institutions, on public chains.
This convergence involves TradFi providing compliance and capital, while crypto provides programmable settlement and continuous transaction capabilities. The leading firms for the next decade will not need to choose between these approaches.
Q. Where do you see the biggest gap between what builders are creating and what users actually need?
Builders optimise for the protocol. Users optimise for outcomes. This gap is wider than many admit.
At CMC Markets, when we build or assess financial products, whether a new financial instrument or an investment platform, adoption comes down to three questions: Can I have faith in this platform with my money? Is there someone I can call if something goes wrong? Is this actually easier than what I already use?
Crypto keeps failing the same test. The best indicator is the retention curve on most DeFi protocols. Many see impressive initial deposits, then a rapid drop-off once anything breaks. Compare that to well-run, regulated institutions, where customer support and regulatory accountability create a floor of trust.
Most users don't care about the underlying blockchain. They care that it's faster, cheaper, and more reliable than alternatives. Protocols that win mainstream adoption won't succeed by dumbing down the tech, but by wrapping it in the trust infrastructure users have always demanded.
Q. If you could redesign one part of today's crypto ecosystem from scratch, what would you change and why?
I'd fix fragmentation. Over 1,000 active blockchains are competing for liquidity, developers, and users. More than US$2 trillion in locked value is scattered across an increasingly splintered landscape. Bridging assets between chains demands technical literacy — that is, a good understanding of how different blockchains operate — that most users shouldn't need.
Even incumbents see this now. In March 2026, DTCC, Euroclear, and Clearstream published a joint white paper arguing that interoperability is essential for digital asset adoption at scale. Their message: no single ledger wins. The future is a coordinated network of networks.
The internet didn't succeed because everyone picked one network. It succeeded because TCP/IP made the complexity invisible. Crypto needs its TCP/IP moment. This will happen when the chain becomes infrastructure rather than a choice.
About Christopher
Christopher Forbes is the Head of Asia & Middle East for CMC Markets and is based in Singapore. In this role, he oversees the firm's three brands — CMC Markets, CMC Invest, and CMC Connect — throughout the regions.
Q. What do you think matters most in crypto right now, and what makes you say that?
Stablecoins. The importance lies not in excitement, but in their permanence. Narratives in crypto shift: ICOs, DeFi summer, NFTs. Stablecoins remain because they address a real need. Global stablecoin transaction volumes reached US$33 trillion in 2025, up 72% year-on-year. Payment volumes doubled to approximately US$390 billion annually, with Asia representing 60% of that growth, led by Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan.
What makes this moment decisive is Mastercard paying up to US$1.8 billion for stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK — the sector's largest acquisition, surpassing Stripe's US$1.1 billion Bridge deal. When a company processing trillions in annual card volume acquires stablecoin rails outright, the debate shifts from whether stablecoins will become mainstream payments infrastructure to who will control them.
From Singapore, the shift is clear. Interest in crypto exposure through regulated vehicles has increased, specifically as stablecoins have enhanced the credibility of on-ramps. Trust Equity or Trust in Stablecoins is about infrastructure, regulation, and scale.
Q. When you look at the next 2–3 years, what changes do you expect - technically, economically, or socially?
The next major development will not involve a new chain or token. It will be when users are unaware, they are utilising blockchain technology and we can see this mass market adoption already.
Account abstraction is making this real. Today, using an on-chain wallet means managing private keys, paying for gas in native tokens, and following recovery steps that no mainstream consumer would accept. Ethereum's Pectra upgrade, launched in May 2025, brought account abstraction via EIP-7702, allowing standard wallets to run smart contract logic automatically. In practice: pay fees in USDC instead of ETH, recover via social login, and batch actions into one click.
This is especially relevant in Asia, where mobile-focused financial behaviour is prevalent and leading regional super-apps set high expectations for digital products. Firms striving to reach the next generation of crypto users are unlikely to design solely for on-chain natives. Instead, they will make on-chain finance equally seamless as the trusted products users already know and use.
Q. What’s a belief you’ve changed your mind about in crypto, and what caused the shift?
A previous belief was that DeFi would fully replace TradFi. Now, a merger between the two seems both more compelling and feasible for the next phase. We see this with large M&A and even regulators encouraging a middle ground – most notably ESMA shifting away from Perps and classifying them as CFDs.
The maximalist position was justifiable in 2020, as efficiency advances were clear and disintermediation appealing. However, it overlooked the significance of institutional trust, compliance, and capital—unique assets that cannot be replicated.
The evidence changed my mind. CMC has partnered with JPMorgan's Kinexys platform to handle over US$1 billion in tokenised payments daily and expanded to the public blockchain Base in November 2025. BlackRock's BUIDL tokenised money market fund has surpassed US$2.3 billion in AUM and enabled on-chain trading via UniswapX in February 2026. These aren't experiments. They're production deployments by the world's most regulated institutions, on public chains.
This convergence involves TradFi providing compliance and capital, while crypto provides programmable settlement and continuous transaction capabilities. The leading firms for the next decade will not need to choose between these approaches.
Q. Where do you see the biggest gap between what builders are creating and what users actually need?
Builders optimise for the protocol. Users optimise for outcomes. This gap is wider than many admit.
At CMC Markets, when we build or assess financial products, whether a new financial instrument or an investment platform, adoption comes down to three questions: Can I have faith in this platform with my money? Is there someone I can call if something goes wrong? Is this actually easier than what I already use?
Crypto keeps failing the same test. The best indicator is the retention curve on most DeFi protocols. Many see impressive initial deposits, then a rapid drop-off once anything breaks. Compare that to well-run, regulated institutions, where customer support and regulatory accountability create a floor of trust.
Most users don't care about the underlying blockchain. They care that it's faster, cheaper, and more reliable than alternatives. Protocols that win mainstream adoption won't succeed by dumbing down the tech, but by wrapping it in the trust infrastructure users have always demanded.
Q. If you could redesign one part of today's crypto ecosystem from scratch, what would you change and why?
I'd fix fragmentation. Over 1,000 active blockchains are competing for liquidity, developers, and users. More than US$2 trillion in locked value is scattered across an increasingly splintered landscape. Bridging assets between chains demands technical literacy — that is, a good understanding of how different blockchains operate — that most users shouldn't need.
Even incumbents see this now. In March 2026, DTCC, Euroclear, and Clearstream published a joint white paper arguing that interoperability is essential for digital asset adoption at scale. Their message: no single ledger wins. The future is a coordinated network of networks.
The internet didn't succeed because everyone picked one network. It succeeded because TCP/IP made the complexity invisible. Crypto needs its TCP/IP moment. This will happen when the chain becomes infrastructure rather than a choice.
About Christopher
Christopher Forbes is the Head of Asia & Middle East for CMC Markets and is based in Singapore. In this role, he oversees the firm's three brands — CMC Markets, CMC Invest, and CMC Connect — throughout the regions.
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